[ale] How do you store your passwords?

[James P. Kinney III]

On Thu, 2007-11-08 at 22:30 -0500, John Wells wrote:
> Guys,
> 
> I have too many machines, with too many passwords, to keep track of.
> I'm looking for thoughts/best practices here. Do you maintain a
> notebook or use a program (preferable, yet scary). If you use a
> program, is any particular one considered to be best of breed compared
> to others? 

Passwords composed of "chunks" each 3-5 characters long. Chunks are
reversible. Within one organization, the passwords use many defined
chunks with the ordering exceptions mnemonically related to a
characteristic of the machine. Thus each machine has a unique password
that is "unguessable" and unpronounceable (usually) and yet readily
recalled (again - usually).

Paper list of chunks stored in my safe. No list of machine<->password
combinations ever stored in any form. Each client has a paper list of
full passwords (but no machine association) sealed in their safe (in
case I get hit by a bus).

No electronic records of passwords. Additional stack of post-it notes
with password fragments as reminders for rarely accessed systems but no
machine name (maybe partial client name fragment along with security by
obscurity using my really illegible handwriting).

> 
> Thanks!
> John
> 
> -- 
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-- 
James P. Kinney III          
CEO & Director of Engineering 
Local Net Solutions,LLC        
770-493-8244                    
http://www.localnetsolutions.com

GPG ID: 829C6CA7 James P. Kinney III (M.S. Physics)
<jkinney at localnetsolutions.com>
Fingerprint = 3C9E 6366 54FC A3FE BA4D 0659 6190 ADC3 829C 6CA7
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