Friday May 25, 2012

JAPAN NEWS AND DISCUSSION

De-cluttering your digital life can set you free

By Leanne Italie

Commentary May. 23, 2010 - 04:31AM JST ( 6 )

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6 Comments

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theFuMay. 23, 2010 - 10:30AM JST

I'm in the IT business. When it comes to passwords, there are two types. 1-3 that you memorize and all the others that you don't. Put all of your passwords into an AES256 encrypted password manager like LastPass, KeePass or KeePassX. Using any of these tools is 2nd nature after just a week. DO NOT USE the password store that is built into your web browser. It isn't safe.

Should you use the same userID for every login? Probably not. When you use a password manager, the login isn't important. It will be filled in automatically for you anyway.

As to password length - always let the password manager create a 25+ character, random password for each different login. I default to 40 characters. I'm never going to type them anyway.

Backup the password database. Since it is encrypted, put it on your desktop, laptop, flash drives, in your gmail, where ever and everywhere. Have 1 place that you update the file, but all the other places are "read-only" copies.
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BeelzebubMay. 23, 2010 - 12:52PM JST

but since it’s recommended that passwords change substantially at least every six months,

Sez who? There was an article appearing quite recently that cited conclusive findings that frequent password changes are a waste of time.
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kyokenMay. 23, 2010 - 02:24PM JST

it’s recommended that passwords change substantially at least every six months

Once a password is cracked or stolen, no one waits for 6 month to misuse it, it's used right away; hence changing passwords is useless bullcrap invented by some "security specialists"
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gogogoMay. 23, 2010 - 09:18PM JST

Why do people think twittering and updating facebook is working? People feel a social need to have to use these, just unplug or not give a crap about them. You're a victim of society if you feel your life is important because you sent a tweet today.
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BadseyMay. 24, 2010 - 12:39AM JST

If there is not a phone app for it -I say forget it. If I can't do myself thru my phone I have my bots do it.
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bipedalMay. 24, 2010 - 07:06PM JST

I'm guessing it is recommended to change your password every 6 months because if it gets cracked it can be added to a database of passwords and used to crack other people's accounts. If you change your password frequently and well you are better able to avoid falling a victim to second-hand password cracking. Plus your previous password is less likely to end up in the password database. So the 6 months is probably a rough estimate of the speed at which password information spreads around, sort of.