It wasn't a problem when first setting up my computer, as I just used the same password for each program. But then came a problem... not sure if I should blame my employers or Windows, but someone needs the blame. You see, the passwords expire at different times - my login seems to expire every so often, CT3 requests I change not quite as often, and PC Banking just has a completely different set of rules that I choose not to care about.
So now I'm using 3 different passwords. Not that it's too confusing, but still. The real problem when comes when I have to keep changing them, because once a password has been used I'm not allowed to use it again on that program. And that is where the real problem lies.
I am a pretty imaginative guy, and thinking of passwords isn't the problem. However, remembering these passwords is not my strong point. I have a core group of 3 passwords I use in my life, so anything after that just becomes a mash of letters and numbers that I couldn't remember if it was stapled to my hand in neon lighting. I had a month off between December and January - do you think I could remember my passwords when I returned? Do you think an elephant would remember the passwords if they were away that long?
Anyway, I was thinking about this as all week my login has been stating that my password is about to expire, and I'm really in no hurry to change it. I was really grasping at straws for my last CT3 password (and I'm amazed I have not forgotten it, even though it is longer than the Russian alphabet), and I'm just not sure I have anything memorable left in me.
So instead I'm going to suggest a new login system for Windows (Yo Bill Gates - take note!) that involves a series of pictures that must be matched with various statements via multiple choice, such as show below:
1 - The Traveling Wilburys
2 - Open Mic Night at The Cathedral
3 - Iron Maiden World Tour 2000
1 - The Goblin King
2 - Peter Pan
3 - Cher
1 - Popeye
2 - The Head Chef at Medieval World
3 - Please Don't Tell Scott Steiner I Was Making Fun of Him - If He Asks, Tell Him I Said He Is A Nice Guy And A True Role Model To Society
1 - The Latest Hallensteins Mailer
2 - Chillin' Out, Miami Vice Style
3 - A Scene From 'The Lion King'
I think this way we could cut out the use of passwords and make a much more secure process to use our computers
1 comment:
I know exactly how you feel. Here I have 5 different user-name/password combos for a the computer, the intranet, two databases extending off the intranet, and then getty images. The actual computer log-in is the stupidest password I have ever come up with - it literally makes no sense but was a product of having to have letters, numbers, AND punctuation in it - and the intranet one is stuck as the default because everytime I've tried to change it it has said that my choice of password is unacceptable (even though it was perfectly acceptable for other programmes within our network); for the two databases and getty I submitted the same one as my computer login but they changed it slightly to remove the punctuation... so whilst at least they are the same password, they also changed my username to fit with each's specifications... and so it's all very muddling and I have a long time delay everytime I need to log in to anything whilst I try and remember what it is.
However my funniest password moment was at my last job. The 'warning your password will expire in x days' came up so I changed it to one of my core passwords that I use in my working life. Then I went upstairs to my other workstation and logged in there fine. Then came downstairs and couldn't log in. I was damn sure it was either magenta or magneto, and had to ring up IT and tell them that whilst my colleagues sniggered in the background. They couldn't get it to work so said they'd change it to a generic default one. Whilst waiting for this I had a moment of insight - I had used my other core password... megatron. As one of my colleagues said after I admitted this with embarrassment - "geek!".
[in case any hackers are reading this, I no longer use any of the above passwords so don't bother trying.]
[they're good passwords, I recommend them to anyone who wants to borrow them. Just try and keep track of which is which.]
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