Tips for keeping track of passwords

A recent article in the Seattle Post-Intelligencer warned about using obvious passwords when signing onto websites. Typcial no-nos are your name, address, birthday, pet's name or any other word/letter combinations that others could guess.

The writer suggests a few options, including this one: Think of a phrase that you will easily remember. Then take the first letter of each word in that phrase, and combine them all into a password.

For example, for the phrase: "Chocolate is my number 1 favorite food" - The password from that phrase is cimn1ff. This contains both letters and a number, as required by many secure websites.

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Even so, keeping track of your passwords can be a challenge. I know a couple of people who write them on paper notes stuck to the sides of their monitors!

Roboform is a much better idea. It stores and encrypts your passwords, logs you in automatically to secure sites, automatically fills out registration and checkout forms, and more. There's a free and a"Pro" version - but the free version will probably have everything you need.

Unfortunately Roboform is available only for Windows.

Mac users: You have have Keychain.app within your OS X operating system. It stores your passwords, but does not do any of the other functions found in Roboform. The Mac alternative to Roboform is 1passwd. It costs $29.95. A free program, with limited features is PasswordVault Lite. They also offer Standard and Pro editions for a fee.


Pauline
teachmeinternet.com