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Between stupid complexity requirements and "you can't repeat that password", I end up with "password" on one site, "Password1" on another, and "Password1!" on y

Between stupid complexity requirements and "you can't repeat that password", I end up with "password" on one site, "Password1" on another, and "Password1!" on yet another. (Obviously I don't use "password" but a secure passphrase that I only use on less-secure sites.) I don't remember which site has password, but I could potentially remember that site X was Green-Blue-Magenta, and correct accordingly.

brador 15y ago
I just signed up to a fresh stackoverflow account and got this "passwords must contain lowercase, uppercase and a punctuation mark" BS. It's the only site in the last 2 years+ that I've signed up with that has historic requirement. I prefer the >12 character simple password to the random digit type and I'd have expected better from a site devoted to technical experts as Stackoverflow is.
- m3koval 15y ago
  I hate requirements like that. My hunch is that they the SE team hasn't put a ton of thought into the account creation process because they also support OpenID. I didn't even realize that you could login to StackOverflow without using OpenID!
- ohgodthecat 15y ago
  Just write complete sentences if you're doing your password remembering, they will easily fit all requirements and are quite easy to remember. You only have to worry about character limits and no spaces requirements that some sites have (which are a billion times more annoying to me than requiring certain types of characters). Dumb examples: The cat in the hat. The cow goes moo. My favorite number is 3.
drucken 15y ago
I recommend learning to use a password manager to automate creation of secure passwords and controlled by a single passphrase. 1. A good password manager can run or be made to run on many platforms, including mobiles and flash devices. 2. If you happen to use a single password frequently, then you should not forget it anyway regardless of whether you or a computer made it. 3. With throw-away/automated passwords for every site/usage, you can be more confident in allowing passwords to be saved for convenience in application password databases, e.g. browsers. 4. A good password manager should allow generating passwords based on common patterns which can be customized per site. Therefore, you become almost completely indifferent to the bizarre rules that some sites may require (since you only have to flick a few checkboxes once). 5. Password managers can easily measure and show you the entropy for your password. A good one to use is Keepass though there are other competitive ones.

brador 15y ago

I just signed up to a fresh stackoverflow account and got this "passwords must contain lowercase, uppercase and a punctuation mark" BS. It's the only site in the last 2 years+ that I've signed up with that has historic requirement. I prefer the >12 character simple password to the random digit type and I'd have expected better from a site devoted to technical experts as Stackoverflow is.

m3koval 15y ago
I hate requirements like that. My hunch is that they the SE team hasn't put a ton of thought into the account creation process because they also support OpenID. I didn't even realize that you could login to StackOverflow without using OpenID!
ohgodthecat 15y ago
Just write complete sentences if you're doing your password remembering, they will easily fit all requirements and are quite easy to remember. You only have to worry about character limits and no spaces requirements that some sites have (which are a billion times more annoying to me than requiring certain types of characters). Dumb examples: The cat in the hat. The cow goes moo. My favorite number is 3.

drucken 15y ago

I recommend learning to use a password manager to automate creation of secure passwords and controlled by a single passphrase. 1. A good password manager can run or be made to run on many platforms, including mobiles and flash devices. 2. If you happen to use a single password frequently, then you should not forget it anyway regardless of whether you or a computer made it. 3. With throw-away/automated passwords for every site/usage, you can be more confident in allowing passwords to be saved for convenience in application password databases, e.g. browsers. 4. A good password manager should allow generating passwords based on common patterns which can be customized per site. Therefore, you become almost completely indifferent to the bizarre rules that some sites may require (since you only have to flick a few checkboxes once). 5. Password managers can easily measure and show you the entropy for your password. A good one to use is Keepass though there are other competitive ones.