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"strong" passwords

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pejsaboy

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Joined
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I know there's been a big push in recent times to use passwords with numbers, capitals, and special characters, etc. for security. I currently have passwords like this, but I wonder if it's really necessary. with so many sites/services that have passwords, it gets a little annoying typing out these passwords. what do you think?
 
Do you want to take the risk?

Personally I catagorize and evaluate the risks of data. And compartmentalize my security.

All my forum logins, which I dont really care about (as much as say my online banking), has the same login. Alpha numeric is good enough for that.

Banking... my multiple banking logins are all different and use alpha numeric passwords, that are longer than my forum logins.

My email, depending on which on it is, has a password that is alpha numeric, and is medium sized.

You have to evaluate your risks. And protect accordingly.
 
also I carry my passwords around in my wallet I have 4 different levels.
1 that is basically something I can remember with 1 letter, it's for stuff that "If" they got hacked I couldn't really care about and could live without
2. A second level for stuff like newegg where money is involved and purchasses are made
3. A system admin password set for PC's routers ect.
4. A uber code pure hex all letters and numbers and dashes for stuff like my bank account where serious money is involved.

I was listening to that podcast and what they said is true if a businesss tells people not to carry passwords around in their wallet they are doing things WRONG! By doing that it encourages people to create weak passwords because they are easy to remember but lets say they carry them around in their wallet, firstly for the most part people don't lose their wallet because that is one thing people take good care of. Secondly by having it written down you can create strong passwords.
 
TalRW said:
also I carry my passwords around in my wallet I have 4 different levels.
1 that is basically something I can remember with 1 letter, it's for stuff that "If" they got hacked I couldn't really care about and could live without
2. A second level for stuff like newegg where money is involved and purchasses are made
3. A system admin password set for PC's routers ect.
4. A uber code pure hex all letters and numbers and dashes for stuff like my bank account where serious money is involved.

I was listening to that podcast and what they said is true if a businesss tells people not to carry passwords around in their wallet they are doing things WRONG! By doing that it encourages people to create weak passwords because they are easy to remember but lets say they carry them around in their wallet, firstly for the most part people don't lose their wallet because that is one thing people take good care of. Secondly by having it written down you can create strong passwords.
Click to expand...

Well, you shouldn't carry them around and say what they are for. Otherwise someone just has to steal your wallet.

but if say you wrote them backwards or something, or didn't list what they were for its ok.
 
no I don't say what they are for it's just a piece of paper with them on it, it has no refference to what they are for. But yeah 9mm is right don't put a title with the words "Computer Passwords" on the top, so if you do get your wallet stolen most likely someone will just go "what the heck is this junk, then grab the cash and chuck everything else.
 
Ok, so what about periodically changing passwords? Certain websites/services require that you change your password every so often, so how important do you guys feel that is? I don't mind doing it, I just find it's difficult to think up a new password sometimes. I suppose completely random chains of characters would be ok :)
 
Over the years I've started with 1 password. Then expanded to a larger one. Then off that I've spawned nearly 8 different passwords.

Using a combo of 8+ characters, basic, Capital and Numbers, and if you want to toss symbols in be my guest. Usually most places consider that secure. There was one site that required a 10+ character password which I found quiet odd most places are 6 or 8.

Writing them down is a good idea, and a bad one. If someone wanted into your accounts and you wrote them down they could just steal it. I keep mine in my head, and sometimes I forget a few but at least after a while I can figure them out.
 
ASCII!

if you have a windows pw, its unbeatable. I have a 6 character pw that i normally use, it has some ASCII in it. I tried cracking it once, for the hell of it, and it went for about a week and got nowhere. Characters like ², ³, and £ are not even included in most cracking programs.
 
n1nj4 said:
ASCII!

if you have a windows pw, its unbeatable. I have a 6 character pw that i normally use, it has some ASCII in it. I tried cracking it once, for the hell of it, and it went for about a week and got nowhere. Characters like ², ³, and £ are not even included in most cracking programs.
Click to expand...
Not by default.

I know lophtcrack will crack special chars.
 
I always just use a special character/mixed with upper and lower case pass at least 7 long. Never had any problems so far. The pipe symbol is an easy one to throw in there since it's right above the enter key.
 
L0pht requires access to a SAM file... not sure how your systems are configured, but mine requires SYSTEM a SID token to access either SAM file.
 
SAM files are easy to get, with syskey and samdump, as long as you have physical access to the machine. You can do it in like 2 seconds with certain linux boot disks
 
Using abbrevations and stuff also helps. Using phrases means you can easily remember longer password.

"XC62j|T" is a good password but hard to remeber
"MyCargoes200mph" is a really long (and hard to crack) password but easily remembered
"MyPassWord@T$Bank$" is long but still possible to remember. Also uses some symbols that kind of makes sense..


As for myself? 3 levels:
single word lowercase password for forums and stuff like that
single word mixed case and some symbols for email and online shopping
multiple word mixed password for online banking
 
pejsaboy said:
I know there's been a big push in recent times to use passwords with numbers, capitals, and special characters, etc. for security. I currently have passwords like this, but I wonder if it's really necessary. with so many sites/services that have passwords, it gets a little annoying typing out these passwords. what do you think?
Click to expand...

I think its very important, and depending on what your password is, you can type it out rather quickly.

I have seen users at work with great passwords, such as &h8j9k0l. take a look at where the keys are, and you will understand why its an easy to remember, and type password.
 
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