The password dilemma

[amberica]

All our passwords expire every 90 days. This is a problem for several reasons.

1. Coming up with a "strong password" is HARD!


2. A strong password must have at least 1 capital letter, at least 1 lower case, at least 1 number, and at least 1 "special character" - plus they must be at least 8 characters long and must begin and end with a letter. And you may not have any dictionary words in them (English, technical, or other language), or any part or your name.


3. All accounts must have different passwords


4. I have a LOT of accounts just for work alone!


5. We are not allowed to write down our passwords anywhere, nor may we keep them in a file on our computers.

A STRONG PASSWORD MUST BE IMPOSSIBLE TO REMEMBER, MUST NOT BE WRITTEN DOWN, AND MUST BE CHANGED EVERY 3 MONTHS IN CASE YOU START REMEMBERING IT.

It's so weird. It sounds like a Dilbert cartoon, but it's real. Actually, it IS a Dilbert Cartoon. To wit:

Comments

Definitely Annoying.

[simtras.livejournal.com]

Whenever I have to change a password, I do the following:
a) make variations of the same password, by changing ordinary letters to 1337 letters
b) just add a number to the end of your word, e.g. "password1", "password2", etc.
c) Use the same two passwords and alternate them each time

For security purposes, I guess I would most likely recomment option a.

Re: Definitely Annoying.

[(Anonymous)]

recommend*

Re: Definitely Annoying.

[amberica.livejournal.com]

I mentioned this to you personally, but I figured I'd add it here too, so other people can see - apparently 1337 is also banned, because "Hackers know those tricks."

I can't ever re-use a password unless it's been more than 5 cycles (15 months) since I used it.

I actually think option 2 might work pretty well, as long as my password ends with a letter, and doesn't actually include any actual words or parts of words or letters that are next to each other on the keyboard or repeating characters.

Like, I could do something like zrYp2d, and then zRyp3d, and so on... except more cryptic than that. They'd probably notice I was doing that and make me stop.

Stupid rules. :P