Storing Your Computer Passwords

We all know that storing your passwords on a 'yellow sticky' on your monitor is not the best idea in the world. But you'd be amazed how many of these I see when visiting customers! Putting them on a sheet of paper in your top desk drawer isn't that much better.

And what's even worse - is when someone tells me their login password is 'password' or '123'. Hackers design robots to automatically try obvious passwords on web sites day and night. Using strong, hard-to-figure-out passwords is a must these days.

Using the password saving feature of your browser is nice as long as no one else uses your computer or has access to it when you're away. Also you don't have your passwords when you travel. And if someone steals your computer, they also stole your passwords. Major bummer.

Keeping passwords in Outlook is another bad idea. First off, Outlook or your email client probably is not protected from prying eyes. Secondly, when you sync to your phone, when someone finds the phone you left at the restaurant, they have your personal information. Again, major bummer dude.

The best solution is to create a secure database of your passwords. This way you only need to remember one password to open the database. I used to use Excel and saved a spreadsheet using a master password. This works, but now there are great little programs you can get for free or low cost that do a much better job.

My favorite product is eWallet by ILium Software www.iliumsoft.com. The reason I like this product over the others is:
- It's easy to use
- All data is stored locally in one small, encrypted, easy-to-backup file
- It syncs with Windows Phones, iPhones, and Blackberries. So you always have your passwords and notes with you.
- It also stores your credit card info, bank accounts, Social security info, and notes. So there is no need to ever write this information down at all.

Everyone's heard this before, but it bears repeating...
Don't use discoverable passwords. If your dog's name is on your Facebook page, don't use it as your password.
Don't make all your passwords the same or use the same master password as all your web sites.
On the flip side, don't make your passwords so complicated that you can't type them. You'll get timed out of some programs if mess up too many times.
I think the best password is a combination of a random real word or two with some numbers.