Managing multiple passwords / PGP signing

Trojan · 21-07-2000 03:36PM #1

Hi all,

2 questions:

[1]

Most people here are probably familiar with the problem of having too many passwords - e.g. I have passwords for dial-up, POP account, one or 2 web mail accounts, these boards, workstation at work, bios on the laptop, 2 OS passwords on home machine, mainframe account, etc etc. Of course, there's also the different userids....

Now being slightly security conscious I don't use the same password for everything (although I do reuse some of them

I know, v. bad).

Having multiple userids and non-dictionary passwords makes remembering them very difficult, I find a lot of the time I'm trying 3 or 4 different passwords to find the right one to access a resource.

Has anyone got a strategy for remembering password/userid pairs? I've seen suggestions from PGP protected spreadsheets to keeping them on a Palm V to using specialised management software. Have you used these or have any comments?

[2]

Is there somewhere in Ireland we can sign PGP keys to authenticate there? Just publicising your public key isn't much use if noone knows if it's valid or not...

Cheers,
Al.

Gavin · 22-07-2000 02:28PM

a palm is kept on ones person at all times ( y the nature of the device ) so how exactly is it not secure ? it has a rudimentary password/hide feature which if some wanted to disable/access they would probably need to put a program on the palm to do such or else, connect it to the serial port.. I don't let people put any programs near my visor.. or eve let it out of my sight.

And how exactly is an encrypted speadsheet vulnerable ? I mean certainly.. if they have access to some sort of supercomputer, then can brute crack it and in a couple of years, when the passwords are all invalid they will get them..

Gav

Gavin · 24-07-2000 10:53PM

trivial to crack 128 bit encryption. i think not.

Gav

spod · 25-07-2000 04:09PM

Originally posted by Verb:
trivial to crack 128 bit encryption. i think not.

That depends on....

The alghoritim used.
How much money you have to throw at cracking the key.
How much/what hardware you have to hand to do it.
etc.

Not trivial to you or me, but to big business or big government I wouldn't be so sure.

Ok, so I just finished the rather excellent database nation, and I'm a paranoid freak in general.

"just because your paranoid, don't mean they're not after you."

Hobbes · 25-07-2000 04:47PM

Originally posted by Verb:
trivial to crack 128 bit encryption. i think not.

Gav

encryption prehaps, but passwords? with a good algorithm and nice large dictionary and information about the person you could crack most passwords pretty quickly.

logic1 · 27-07-2000 04:08PM

I use the same username and password for everything.

u: logic1 p: n1gel

Follow my example and presto problem solved.

.logic1.

Shiminay · 28-07-2000 01:43PM

Possibly the most secure advice I've ever read...

All the best,

Dav
@B^)
My page of stuff

Managing multiple passwords / PGP signing

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