The 20 most popular passwords

[Lennart Sorensen]

On Tue, Jan 26, 2010 at 01:33:54AM -0200, Renata Rocha wrote:
> I used to have passwords generated from serial numbers from easy to
> find objects around me, like my air conditioning unit, an old monitor.
> Looking around my workplace helps remembering without having to
> writing them down.
> 
> Serial numbers are nice, big, and have both numbers and letters. And
> usually don't mean anything.
> 
> But lately due to security policies I have been using randomly
> generated passwords by pwgen. It supposedly gives you pronounceable
> passwords. I find them easier to memorize, so I use them.
> 
> I'm kinda psycho with passwords, I have more than 10 different.

Well counting all the websites around which need accounts, I am sure I
have hundreds of passwords.  Because of the way I make my passwords I can
actually figure out most of them without having to try twice.  The only
problem is sites that insist on telling you rules for what your password
must contain.  That's just stupid because their restrictions actually
makes the password less secure than what I would have used otherwise.

If you say one character must be a digit, well that's one character
that just reduced from around 90 choices to 10.  That's not more secure,
that's less secure.  And if it means I have to write the password down
somewhere because it doesn't necesarily fit my password generating system,
then it is even less secure.

-- 
Len Sorensen
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