How to select a secure password you can remember

Sorry but it's actually a question (for anybody who came here looking for an answer).

Wondering if anyone out there came up with a good system to create passwords they can actually remember which are also secure? - like with symbols and whatever else that makes it secure..

What is the point of creating a secure password if you are going to save it on a note in your phone or computer which in turn has an easy password to open it.

In these times, this is a worthy skill to obtain.

Appreciate any ideas.

a reply to: nOraKat

Use software like KeePass (and I'm sure there are others).

Only have to remember one password, can use it on a USB stick, and you'll never forget a password again

a reply to: nOraKat

Use strings of each 'type', arranged in a pattern you would remember. Types being upper case, and lower case, and numbers, and characters.

Why not just figure out a secure password and remember it??
Simple.

I see programs that want to offer you "security" by holding your passwords for you in case you forget.....my first thought is...what kind of brain dead asshole would just hand all their passwords over in this digital age??
Also,why write your passwords down...thats another dumb thing to do??

I really don't find it that hard??

I've developed a technique where I can make complex passwords that I couldn't tell even if my life depended on it: I let my fingers memorize the password, not my head. haha. And I use many different ones!
Sadly, I'm not sure I can teach that... :/

But I follow simple rules: No words related to me or my habits or psychology, and no numbers that have any significance for me. I mix it all with CAP letters, non-cap letters and numbers. If possible, I'll add a few digits more than the strongest one advised by a site.

And I change them every once in a while.

PS: yeah, i know... "non-cap letters"... sheesh haha

a reply to: DrumsRfun

Yeah, those of us that hail from the age of rotary phones...routinely held 40 or more 10 diget phone numbers in our head...hell I still remember mine from 8 years old

Makes ya wonder how good some tech really is.

I capitalize the 'p' in password so it's not that easy for the hackers.

a reply to: nOraKat

Use words instead of random numbers, it's a lot easier to remember. Make a sentence that is not obviously related to your life, or just a few words that form some sort of "story" or logical sequence in your mind. Then capitalize the first letters of the words, or some other letters such that you can easily remember which ones are caps. And add some numbers; add a date or any other number that fits so you remember it, or use "1" instead of "one", or something.

Of course I wouldn't use this method to make nuclear launch codes or anything like that, and I don't know a lot about encryption, but for the average Joe this type of password should be just as secure as a long-ass, hard-to-remember string of numbers and random letters.

I use a couple passwords like that. Just haven't had the need for a lot of new ones recently. The words/symbols/numbers I use have a certain amount of personal significance to me, but there's no way anyone could guess, short of reading my mind. Everyone's brain is full insignificant, obscure details and connections that can be easily remembered.

a reply to: NowanKenubi

That's a cool thing to do as well, but you might have a bad time if you need to give your password to someone else for some reason, or if you learned to inpute it on a keyboard and then you need to use a touch-screen.

originally posted by: DrumsRfun
Why not just figure out a secure password and remember it??
Simple.

I see programs that want to offer you "security" by holding your passwords for you in case you forget.....my first thought is...what kind of brain dead asshole would just hand all their passwords over in this digital age??
Also,why write your passwords down...thats another dumb thing to do??

I really don't find it that hard??

Because if one website gets hacked, that's every website compromised. Try this website to see if any of your accounts
based on your email address and password have been pwned:

haveibeenpwned.com...

a reply to: Serdgiam

Well that would be the same as putting all of your passwords on an encrypted word document and saving it.

And then the password you use for your master password list/document has to be an easy password that you can remember.

a reply to: DrumsRfun

Well the point is that it is hard to remember secure passwords with upper, lower case letters and symbols. Also it has to be at least 12 characters long.

You also should constantly create new passwords so that you do not keep using the same one.

a reply to: NowanKenubi

Well that helps..

a reply to: Cutepants

A lot of decryption software make use of dictionary words.

a reply to: DrumsRfun

Well, there are pros and cons to pretty much every method.

When using software like KeePass, the only way my stuff will be compromised is a direct attack, specifically on my encrypted files.

That is less likely than someone using something like a keylogger, or if using "one very good password everywhere," an individual having all of their accounts compromised by one site being hacked, etc.

At least for me, and certainly others, such software provides significantly higher security than any other method. Even using something like a browsers built-in password storage will defend against certain types of attacks which a user might be susceptible. But, I am a brain dead asshole, so there's that too.

Use normal sentences with four or five words, as you would write them down in a thread, for example.

Like:

Screw this damned passwords

The way to hack my account will be a very long one

or similiar sentences.

a reply to: nOraKat

Its not quite the same as that...

But yes, pretty much everything out there will require you to remember at least one password. If it needs to be "easy" for you to remember, then that might be an issue.

There are plenty of techniques to improve everything from memory to seemingly random passwords. If you struggle with that, exploring those may be a very helpful first step regardless of what "password system" you use.

There are far too many to detail, but examples include remembering a full paragraph that is describing, say, imaginary (or not) scores from sports games. Then, you take the first (or last) letter from each word, and the full numbers (or first digit, its all up to you) and create a string that will be random to anyone but you.

Example:

Holy #! The Patriots finally won a game against the Dolphins, though the score was close at 21-17. It finally happened in 2020, # if I know what took so long!

Becomes:

H#!TPfwagatD,ttswca21-17.Ifhi2020,#iIkwtsl!

Just a not so great example, but your imagination is the limit on it. Its a pretty common method, and you can even cater it to each subject so its a little easier to for you remember, while appearing mostly random.

a reply to: nOraKat

Oh, right, I didn't think of that. It's a good point. Well, you could use weird spellings for the words but that might make it harder to remember too. Maybe it's always a trade off between uncrackability and memorability.

Maybe use words that aren't in dictionaries; during WWII they used Navajo language and the Germans didn't get it. Inside-jokes or something your grandma used to call you. Of course that always brings a slight risk of someone finding out. To avoid that you could create new words that only you understand. But I guess that also makes it slightly easier to solve, theoretically.

a reply to: nOraKat

My password of choice. . .

roundblackdots


*boom*

Merry Christmas

originally posted by: AugustusMasonicus

I capitalize the 'p' in password so it's not that easy for the hackers.

Oh great.

We've got Edward Snowden here!