Remembering passwords can be a real headache.
9th May 2024 | Modified: 24th April 2024Categories: Security
I can remember how much it cost to see Star Wars, my first car’s registration plate or, who was number 1 in the charts, 30 years ago, but a password from yesterday?
There are all sorts of theories as to why we forget passwords. Memory is a complex process, many things can be deeply ingrained in our brains because of their emotional significance or how many times we like to remember it. Sadly, memory like all things is subject to degrade.
It has been suggested that we can each have anywhere between 100 and 240 online accounts”
Modern living is a sea of online accounts, each demanding their own passwords. It has been suggested that we can each have anywhere between 100 and 240 online accounts.
Everything from your pension, Netflix, your mobile phone, TV licence, and HMRC; everything is online. To be honest, the sheer volume of passwords we are asked to remember on a day-to-day basis is just silly. Of course, we must be super vigilant about cyber security. Hackers will go to no end of efforts to steal what is yours.
Online accounts typically, will ask you to make the password difficult; do not share it with anyone; don’t make the numbers personal, like birthdays or sequential like 012345678. Who does that? It is hard to believe it but that sequence, 012345678 is the number one password in the world.
Making passwords hard to remember is one thing but remembering them is another thing altogether. There you are staring at your keyboard, and then you mix two passwords together!
It also does not help that you’re supposed to change your passwords every 6 months! Or that you can store passwords in your web browser, so you rely on your computer to remember them for you. Whilst that is super convenient, it is not ideal, what if your laptop gets stolen?
Creating memorable passwords is just a chore. Whilst there is no easy solution, adopting strategies like using a password manager can help ease your pain.
Password Manager
There are numerous password manager services out there, each with different features, and varying levels of security.
Whichever service you choose, make sure it offers strong encryption and cross-platform compatibility. Some password managers are free, some offer premium pricing for more features.
This is not an area you want to go cheap on or get wrong, so it’s essential to research the reputation of each potential supplier so that you can make an informed choice, to ensure the security of your information.
