[ale] OT: password gripe

[krwatson at cc.gatech.edu]

> -----Original Message-----
> From: ale-bounces at ale.org [mailto:ale-bounces at ale.org] On Behalf Of
> Geoffrey
> Sent: Thursday, December 31, 2009 07:45
> To: ALE
> Subject: [ale] OT: password gripe
> 
> <rant>
> I do my best to create good passwords.  I'm continuing to find various
> companies that I do business with, restricting the character set for
> passwords and/or length.  This drives me nuts because all my passwords
> contain a combination of alphanumeric and punctuation AND long.  I'm
> continuing to find companies who do not permit punctuation in a
> password.  I just don't get it?  Do they not understand that they are
> reducing the security of a password by restricting the character set?
> 
> I called support for one company and they told me it was an 'internet
> standard.'  I told them they were full of crap.
> 
> What am I missing here?  Can anyone give me a good reason for such a
> policy????
> </rant>
> 
> --
> Until later, Geoffrey
> 

That really annoys me too, and why won't sights tell you what the password requirements are? I end up having to try several passwords to find out the length limit and character set.

I have hundreds of user names and passwords because I use a different one for every account. I also use different random answers for the security questions on every site.

Why write them down when you can use KeePass to remember them for you?

http://keepass.info/

Did I mention it's open source (GPL) and runs on just about anything.

The Wikipedia article covers it better than I can and gives links for native versions for Linux, OS X, Blackberry, iPhone, Droid, and others.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/KeePass

It doesn't solve the problem of sites that only allow wimpy passwords but it makes changing them regularly and keeping up with them bearable.

keith

-- 

Keith R. Watson                        Georgia Institute of Technology
Systems Support Specialist IV          College of Computing
keith.watson at cc.gatech.edu             801 Atlantic Drive NW
(404) 385-7401                         Atlanta, GA 30332-0280