Those idiot password changes

nospam on Wed, 13 Jun 2018 11:49:26 -0400
typed in alt.windows7.general the following:
In article , pyotr
filipivich wrote:

Now all I need is a record of all the various passwords, with a
strong password needed to access it.

that's called a password manager.

One more program to download, install, setup and configure.

I think I'll stick with a paper notebook.
--
pyotr filipivich
Next month's Panel: Graft - Boon or blessing?

wryutirjgkhmmfioertuyie on Wed, 13 Jun 2018 08:54:19
-0700 typed in alt.windows7.general the following:
On 6/13/2018 8:36 AM, pyotr filipivich wrote:
wryutirjgkhmmfioertuyie on Tue, 12 Jun 2018
21:32:13

Actually my greatest threat would probably be a grandkid blindly
punching the keyboard one at a time and hitting "p"... 8-O

Bingo.

I had to use an assembly language simulator for a programming class.
Stepping through a loop, I just started 'walking across the keyboard"
- avoiding the keys I knew "caused things" {Q for example.) Found all
manner of useful things - m for map memory{dump the current state to
output} was the most useful.

Actually I was just trying to be funny. My grandkid would have to hit
ONLY "p" (my password) and "Enter"- in that order - to open my tablet.
Any extra keys would screw things up. So odds are pretty good this
tablet is safe from grandkids too... that is to break into, not to break
up... 8-O

I put a simple 2 char password on the box at home. "Paranoia" -
so that the cat cannot walk across the keyboard and "do something".
One of the catch phrases of the program was "You program should be
able to handle having the cat walk across the keyboard without
crashing in flames."
--
pyotr filipivich
Next month's Panel: Graft - Boon or blessing?

On 13 Jun 2018, wryutirjgkhmmfioertuyie wrote in
alt.comp.os.windows-10:

But apparently they are not immune to local corruption either:

No computer file is immune.

Dunno. That sounds a bit scary to me. I can't imagine the problems
I'd have if I lost all my passwords in one crash and couldn't log
in anymore.

There's a handy little invention called "The Backup"! Keepass files are
very small.

In article , pyotr
filipivich wrote:

Now all I need is a record of all the various passwords, with a
strong password needed to access it.

that's called a password manager.

One more program to download, install, setup and configure.

hardly an obstacle. maybe a minute, if that long.

I think I'll stick with a paper notebook.

not as safe, plus you're far less likely to use long cryptic passwords
because they're hard to type.

On 6/13/2018 5:40 PM, Nil wrote:
On 13 Jun 2018, wryutirjgkhmmfioertuyie wrote in
alt.comp.os.windows-10:

But apparently they are not immune to local corruption either:

No computer file is immune.

Corruption in a 30 password file that pretty much controls most aspects
of one's online life would IMO be a big deal.

I can't imagine the problems I'd have if I lost all my passwords

There's a handy little invention called "The Backup"!

Ah. Sarcasm. Love it. And if you unknowingly made a backup of the
corrupted file?

My software free formula type password memory system has yet to crash or
be corrupted. It works for me. But as I've liberally pointed out many
times in this thread...YMMV.

In article , wryutirjgkhmmfioertuyie
wrote:


I can't imagine the problems I'd have if I lost all my passwords

There's a handy little invention called "The Backup"!

Ah. Sarcasm. Love it. And if you unknowingly made a backup of the
corrupted file?

then you use an older copy, prior to the corruption. simple.

keep in mind that you'd normally be accessing it every day, so you'll
instantly know if there's any corruption in the unlikely event it
occurred.

nospam on Wed, 13 Jun 2018 22:00:57 -0400
typed in alt.windows7.general the following:
In article , pyotr
filipivich wrote:

Now all I need is a record of all the various passwords, with a
strong password needed to access it.

that's called a password manager.

One more program to download, install, setup and configure.

hardly an obstacle. maybe a minute, if that long.

"The slothful man saith, There is a lion without, I shall be slain
in the streets."

I think I'll stick with a paper notebook.

not as safe, plus you're far less likely to use long cryptic passwords
because they're hard to type.

But then again, I don't have to worry about the notebook being
"hacked".
--
pyotr filipivich
Next month's Panel: Graft - Boon or blessing?

In article , pyotr
filipivich wrote:

I think I'll stick with a paper notebook.

not as safe, plus you're far less likely to use long cryptic passwords
because they're hard to type.

But then again, I don't have to worry about the notebook being
"hacked".

actually you do, since it's not encrypted. anyone can look at it and
find out your passwords.

there are also no backups. if you lose the notebook, or your house
burns down, there go your passwords, and in the former case, someone
else now knows what they are.

with a password manager, it will take a few billion years to crack the
master password, assuming it isn't lame, like monkey123 or qwerty.

there can also be an unlimited number of backups scattered across the
planet, so outside of an alien invasion where the earth is completely
destroyed, your passwords will be safe, and if that were to happen, not
knowing your passwords will be a relatively minor issue, should you
somehow survive.

On 13 Jun 2018, wryutirjgkhmmfioertuyie wrote in
alt.windows7.general:

On 6/13/2018 5:40 PM, Nil wrote:
There's a handy little invention called "The Backup"!

Ah. Sarcasm. Love it. And if you unknowingly made a backup of the
corrupted file?

Then you go to your next oldest backup (which is still quite recent),
of course. That's how all backups are to be used. But surely you
already knew that. Right? Right??

Nil wrote:
On 13 Jun 2018, wryutirjgkhmmfioertuyie wrote in
alt.windows7.general:

On 6/13/2018 5:40 PM, Nil wrote:
There's a handy little invention called "The Backup"!
Ah. Sarcasm. Love it. And if you unknowingly made a backup of the
corrupted file?

Then you go to your next oldest backup (which is still quite recent),
of course. That's how all backups are to be used. But surely you
already knew that. Right? Right??

I had two backups ruined by bad RAM.
But, I had others :-) Really old and scummy,
but still backups.

For you people out there unfamiliar with failures
like this, run Verify on your backup tool
occasionally, and verify what got backed up
is intact. Backups use checksums as a means to
verify what was written.

The bad RAM in my system, seemed to be in an
area in low RAM used as a write buffer. One day
the system crashed after writing 15GB of data.
And you could reproduce it. Reboot, try and
write 15GB of data, and it would crash. That
was the first good hint that something was wrong.

Run a Verify occasionally, just to see whether
your "goods" are "good".

That doesn't guarantee that a file wasn't in a
corrupted state when it was backed up. That
case is just another level of corruption. If
you don't keep a lot of versions around, there's
a chance you actually have *nothing* good on hand.

I learned about this sort of thing, from a tape
drive at work. People were making a ton of backups
at their desk, with a loaner 8mm helical scan drive.
I asked about "when was the last time that thing
had a cleaning tape", and I got this blank look.
When we inserted the stack of tapes, one at a time,
all the tapes were *blank*. That's how dirty the
heads were. Just because you're holding a tape in
your hand, doesn't mean there is anything on it.
That's where Verify comes in. While hard drives
are not tape drives, there's still value in Verify.

Paul

On 6/13/2018 9:58 PM, Nil wrote:
On 13 Jun 2018, wryutirjgkhmmfioertuyie wrote in

if you unknowingly made a backup of the corrupted file?

Then you go to your next oldest backup

Getting complicated. Now you have to keep a folder somewhere with
several old backup files? Not necessary with my password system which
relies only on my wetware, and not some third party's software.

(which is still quite recent),

It might not be that recent. For non-sensitive sites (like iHeart Radio)
I often let the browser remember the password. So I might not need that
password again for several weeks when needed for a new device or
browser. But with my password formula I just pull it out of my head. No
backups needed. Easy peasy.

"T" wrote in message news
https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/blog...ssword-changes

Sideline note.
The author, L. Cranor, of the 2016 article was the FTC Chief Technology
Officer until Jan. 2017.
That position is still vacant and hasn't been formally filled for 18
months(the last CTO prior to Cranor was only an attorney temporarily
appointed as 'acting' CTO)

--
....w¡ñ§±¤ñ
ms mvp windows 2007-2016, insider mvp 2016-2018

On 12 Jun 2018, Wolf K wrote in
alt.windows7.general:

A good source of phrases is your own history. Eg, this sequence
derives from a couple of sentences about my life:
mbswbligsihttttfthomtbaf. Convert a few letters to numerics or
capitals, and may look "as near totally random" as you desi
mbswb11gs1HtTttft60Mt6af

Hey, I thought I invented that! I knew I should have patented it.

On 14 Jun 2018, wryutirjgkhmmfioertuyie wrote in
alt.windows7.general:

Getting complicated. Now you have to keep a folder somewhere with
several old backup files? Not necessary with my password system
which relies only on my wetware, and not some third party's
software.

(which is still quite recent),

It might not be that recent. For non-sensitive sites (like iHeart
Radio) I often let the browser remember the password. So I might
not need that password again for several weeks when needed for a
new device or browser. But with my password formula I just pull it
out of my head. No backups needed. Easy peasy.

OK, your system works for you. I find Keepass quite useful. It lets me
use very random passwords that I could never remember, and it will also
store any password, not just for web sites.

And I find it to be no inconvenience in the least to make backups of it
and my other data. I don't add or change passwords very often so any
backup is likely to be current. I have never, in my several years of
its use, had a corrupt file. I think you're fear of that is
exaggerated.

....w¡ñ§±¤ñ wrote:
"T" wrote in message news
https://www.ftc.gov/news-events/blog...ssword-changes


Sideline note.
The author, L. Cranor, of the 2016 article was the FTC Chief Technology
Officer until Jan. 2017.
That position is still vacant and hasn't been formally filled for 18
months(the last CTO prior to Cranor was only an attorney temporarily
appointed as 'acting' CTO)


You can have that job, if you can guess the password.

That's why the position is still vacant.

Paul