Password Management

I hate passwords.  More accurately, I hate password maintenance policies.

I understand the significance of passwords, and the ever important need of strong passwords.  Almost all of my personal information is stored online in one way or another; my health records, bank statements, emails, photos, etc.  Any combination of these can provide access to even more information over time.  Password-cracking programs have grown sophisticated over the years, and increased processor speeds mean even a basic laptop is capable of cracking a simple password in a matter of hours.

I get it.  I need a strong password.  I even get why I need to change them from time to time, and why I need different passwords for different sites.

But it is just SO difficult to remember which passwords I use for various sites.  And it becomes even more difficult to remember which passwords I've used in the past.

My company, like almost all companies, has a policy on how long passwords need to be, how many different kinds of characters they need to have, and how infrequently I can reuse passwords.  I won't post the actual policy here; I would hate to offer hackers any real visibility into the nature of passwords at my company, but I assure you that the rules are complex.

I had to change my password today to comply with the policy.  No... it isn't 12345.  That would be the combination to the air vault in Spaceballs.  

Since changing my password this morning, I have already forgotten to type it a handful of times.  I keep trying my last one.  I usually get to the point just before I hit enter when I realize I changed it.

My backspace key is getting a workout.  Having Monday off for Labor Day, it will probably take me all of next week before the new password becomes rote.

Just in time for me to change it again.