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Let’s be honest. You use the same 6 character password for Facebook, Gmail, Youtube, Amazon, Twitter and Reddit, don’t you? Maybe you have a different one for your online banking or Paypal account, but I’m willing to bet most of them are still saved with your browsers built in password’s manager, right?
Don’t worry, we don’t judge here. It’s understandable. Most of us are more concerned with getting stuff done online than we are worrying about privacy, and memorizing a hundred different long, secure passwords is pretty unrealistic.
Well here’s something you might not know. If you’re using Firefox, go Options > Security > Saved Passwords > Show Passwords. Boom! There’s all of your usernames and passwords, free for the taking by anyone who happens to sit down at your computer.
So what’s a girl to do? Don’t worry! You have options, and they don’t all involve memorizing hundreds of nonsensical 14 character passwords.
Lock your computer
It’s simple, and effective. I developed a vendetta for unlocked workstations back when I was working in IT. Whenever I came across one, I would usually pop on and set their desktop background or Facebook profile picture to this and add a status update lamenting the woes of forgetting to lock one’s desktop. People didn’t usually appreciate it, but eventually began to get my point. Lock your workstation or you’ll end up with creepy mullet man in your life.
Set a master password
If you’re letting Firefox manage your passwords you need to set a master password. This prevents anyone who gains access to your computer from viewing all of your stored login information, unless they know your master password. Simple, yet effective. This can be done under Options > Security menu.
Use a password keychain
A password keychain is just what it sounds like. A password manager that comes in the form of a browser extension, which only requires you to remember a single master password to use it. Similar to Firefox’s password storing feature, but with a more robust feature set that includes encryption, backups and synchronization across multiple workstations. Some keychains offer strong, random, password generation, which creates and stores complicated passwords for you automatically.
According to a survey of my PEERS, the two most popular keychains are Lastpass and Keepass.
Multifactor authentication
The more security conscious folks in the audience might also want to consider multifactor authentication. This is achieved by using a password keychain that supports multifactor authentication, in combination with a physical dongle that is inserted into the USB port of your computer. The dongle basically carries an encryption key file, so your password keychain cannot be used unless the dongle is inserted into the computer. A popular manufacturer of these is Yubikey, or you can make your own with a regular USB stick if you’re feeling adventurous.
Use long, complicated passwords
Asking some of my most paranoid friends about their password management techniques warranted furtive glances and incredulous disbelief that I would consider using a third party application to manage my passwords, despite their claims of 256-bit AES encryption. After a brief refresher in cryptography, I’m told that your best option is still to use long, diverse passwords; at least 12 characters long and comprised of upper and lower case letters, numbers and special characters.
Some tips to manage these included;
- Use a consistent ‘naming convention’ to generate your passwords – a formula that only you know
- Use a pass phrase instead of a word. to be extra tricky, mess up the wording in a way that only you will remember
- Use less social media and you’ll have less passwords to remember (thanks, tips!)
Keep a Post-It note under your desk
Just kidding. Don’t do that. Ever. Or I’ll send him after you.
Do you have any other suggestions that I should add to my list? Do you want to hear the full crypto lesson I got last week from our head systems architect? I’d love to hear your thoughts!
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Earlier this week ICANN (the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers) released some exciting news about a historic expansion for the future of the Domain Name System.
For the past fifteen years, 
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