It's way past time for us to chnge passwords in our house. We change every single password on a regular basis of every five or six months. Right now we're at.....eleven I think. Something happened about nine months ago that has put a hiccup into most of our plans. We love that kid, but keeping to task became a LOT harder!
We have used words and names that have meant something silly to one of us or the other. Anny's childhood cat Brutus was a password for a while. I saw a Maybach car on the road one day and loved the M logo, so Maybach became our password after Brutus. Before that it was Glenkirk, the place we met and the place we got married.
(Do not worry, none of these are passwords that we use now. Maybe "worry" is the wrong word. Don't try to break into my life, none of these are passwords we use now!)
We also always tag a number or two at the beginning or end, and always change the number at the same time that we change the word.
The fun time is the week after we decide to change it. We then have to systematically go through every vendor we use to change the password, even if we don't plan to buy from them until Christmas! There is nothing worse than the four attempt password entering to buy one toy because you can't remember when the last time you changed your info was!
At the office we've gotten even more complex. Here are the rules there:
Changes every six months - forced change by the server
At least eight characters (any number, letter or symbol)
At least one number, one letter, one symbol and one Capital Letter
Cannot be a simple word - so anything with "monroe" would be rejected
Luckily I have another three months to come up with a new one at the office!
Anyway - I'm thinking that we are going to move to a two-password system in the coming weeks. One password will go on things like email and blogs, and another to go on bank accounts and places that our credit cards are stored.
My questions for you are:
Do you and your spouse share one password for everything or have separate passwords for different accounts? (that's if you have a spouse, if not, ignore this one!)
How often do you change your passwords? (follow up, are we crazy to make the change as often as we do)
Do you use simple words or something more complex?
OMG, I have used the same password since college (1994). I've added a few, for various accounts, and as PW security requirements have gotten stricter, but that's still the one I try first.
ReplyDeleteI prefer passwords that spell words, and substitute ones for l's and zeros for o's. It's my only hope of remembering them.
The longer we've been doing this stuff the more complex my passwords get. They generally refer to things familiar to me, but not so the password is a simple word (anymore). I don't think I use the same password for any two accounts, though I do use "themes" or similar bases. How often I change them varies. Many get changed on avg. once a year unless I've accessed them on a public computer or unsecured network, in which case I change them when I get home. But I don't follow a strict schedule unless the company enforces one.
ReplyDeleteBut if I used the same password multiple places, I would change it at least every 6 mos, maybe more. And I'm marrying a super security-conscious guy - so ask me again in a couple of years. ;-)