Misc.

I have written many times about making sure that you back-up your digital files but I also want to remind you to back-up your passwords, as well as to use passwords that are not easy for others to guess.  I know that many say you should never write down your passwords but lets be realistic, how many people can remember all those passwords.  As a quick tally I looked and found over 100 passwords that I have to remember and I am sorry but I cannot memorize all of them.  I know that there are many more but I cannot even remember the sites that require a password. Also if we are all using 123456 or similar easy to remember strings then really there is no sense in having a password, I know many people that do this as they say they can never remember all their passwords.

So I advocate something a little more secure than 123456 and that is to record your passwords in either a secure data base (see below) or even easier a recipe box with cards listing all the sites that have passwords. Honestly how many of us have people visiting that are going to be searching for passwords?  If we are concerned with people accessing these cards then get a fireproof locked safe and put the box in there.

Another way is what I have been using in addition to the recipe cards is an app. A number of years ago I installed an app on my tablet that helps with keeping track of my passwords.  It is secured with a password (yes another one) and you can even set it so after a number of wrong passwords are entered the program will erase the entire database, a little extreme in my opinion but I guess if you are a fan of 007 or other spy thrillers then this would interest you.  I do like this system as I can carry it with me on my tablet but this company keeps asking me to buy the “free” program so it makes me nervous that some day they will not allow me access to the app without me paying so I also use the above recipe card idea at home and lock it up in a safe for even safer keeping.

I did hear of a new (at least new to me) program that also allows you to secure your passwords, and again is free, and it is installed on your own computer.  I need to investigate more into this before I recommend it.

But even if you are not going the more high tech route of a program lets take some time today, or this weekend, to make our passwords harder for others to guess and at the same time to record them so we do not loose them!!!