Passwords coming out of my ears

[Fred Wright]

Password Safe from Counterpane Systems (Bruce Schneier) runs under Wine and 
they are supposed to be working on a Linux version.

At 23:57 5/13/03 -0700, you wrote:
>Message: 7
>Date: Tue, 13 May 2003 17:56:32 -0700
>From: "Ed Skinner" <ed@flat5.net>
>To: plug-discuss@lists.plug.phoenix.az.us
>Subject: Passwords coming out of my ears
>Reply-To: plug-discuss@lists.plug.phoenix.az.us
>
>      I have accounts, logins and passwords at fifty (50) [exactly!] syste=
>ms=20
>that are either a) here in the office or b) "out there" on the Internet=20
>somewhere. These include hotmail.com, the company that has the mortgage o=
>n my=20
>house, amazon.com, jazz-sax.com, sourceforge.net, paypay.com, and so fort=
>h.
>      If I were a good doobie, I'd have a different password for each one =
>of=20
>these, something not based on a dictionary word, something with letters a=
>nd=20
>numbers, ... you know the drill.
>      But fifty passwords? Fifty login names? Fifty system web addresses?
>      Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhh!
>
>      So, what do you do to keep track of all this? Do you:
>1) Have the memory of an elephant?
>2) Keep the account names, system names and passwords in a [horror!] clea=
>r=20
>text file you can search when needed?
>3) Keep the above data encrypted but, still in a file (and under the=20
>protection of a single "master" password)?
>4) Keep everything on PostIt notes stuck here and there?
>5) Use only two or three passwords over and over, a "good" one for secure=
>=20
>websites, a "bad" one for unsecure sites that send you the password in=20
>cleartext Email every now and then, and a "throwaway" in case all else fa=
>ils?
>6) ... What?
>
>      I'm mostly in category #3 at the moment but uncomfortable having all=
>  my=20
>goodies protected by a single master key (on a system that is, theoretica=
>lly,=20
>"safe" behind my firewall -- Oh God, now I've thrown down the gauntlet to=
>  the=20
>crackers in Phoenix!)
>      How do you deal with all these accounts, names and passwords?
>
>--=20
>Ed Skinner, ed@flat5.net, http://www.flat5.net/


-- 
Fred Wright
fawright@earthlink.net