how are we supposed to remember all these passwords and code words

I use three words, and change some letters to special characters, and add a two digit number to the end. It is 18 characters long.

My husband got me to put it into a website that checks how strong your password is.

The result was that it would take a computer "about 500 quadrillion years" to crack, so I feel it's quite secure 😆

If I put the same three words "as is" and without the numbers at the end, it would take "34 thousand years".

My husband, who works in IT security, uses LastPass for his password manager, but I couldn't get on with it.

Anyone on this thread watched today's 'Dirty Rotten Scammers' on BBC1?
They have highlighted data breaches as the source of scams and also advised complex passwords. They also mentioned password managers.

My son put a password manager on my iPad.

Just tried to place an order with Ocado I've used them before, essentially to buy our preferred coffee pods which have become unavailable in shops, I tend to buy 20 boxes at a time. The password which was stored, they deemed to be wrong when I entered it several times, so I couldn't progress to check out. No "have your forgotten your password or do you wish to change your password" anywhere so that could email me with the option to change password, how stupid!! I couldn't therefore place the order with them, their loss I've looked on line and found another company, not Amazon, who specialise in coffee pods and they undercut Ocado in spite of them having an offer on my pods.

Thank you Vegansrock. Next time I need a new password, I'll see if I remember to try that.

auntieflo when you come to enter a password on a new site I get a pop up window on the bottom of the screen asking if I want to use their suggested strong password. I always click on that and it just saves it for me. This is then shared with my other devices, which I need face recognition to get into. So I never have to write down a passwords or remember it.

I write them down in a phone book. Really important PIN numbers are disguised as phone numbers. Others are disguised within bogus sites. The rest are just written in as normal reminders. When I am regularly asked if I want to save numbers I decline because I am distrusting old bat.

Ladyleftfieldlover

I can remember most of mine. But, because OH’s memory is poor, I have typed them all up and the piece of paper is locked in his gun cabinet which has to be locked by law!

Good idea, the downside is that I don’t know where DH keeps his key so if I misplace my book with all my passwords in it then I can’t access his copy unless he’s around!

I write my PIN numbers down in code. It takes a while to work it out and I really need a pencil and paper before I can do it. It drives me mad. I've just ordered a little password notebook from Amazon (there's a lovely black one with a bee on the front, £8) but I suppose I'll still need to use the code for my PIN numbers. Life is so complicated now. Grrr.

I'm overwhelmed with this thread

The chances of a break-in into someone's house to search out passwords to make money are infinitely small compared to the profitability of a crime syndicate routinely copying all the data off poorly set up servers on which data are stored. A few passes of the captured data through powerful computers will make most of the stored information readable unless it is encrypted by complex passwords.

Vegansrock. what you say is interesting. I have an iPad, but never remember it suggesting a password. How does that work please.

I pay for my password manager, I use Dashlane but there are many available. I have used the same password manager for at least 20 years - it has kept up with the technology. It generates passwords for me and tells me how strong the password is too. It advises me when I need to update older ones which are not so secure. I use Dashlane on my Android phone, my iPad, my Windows laptop too. It also provides a Virtual Private Network too for additional security if I am using public WiFi.

I write them down too. Like others have said, someone would need to break into my house and rifle through all my books to find them.

If you have apple products they just suggest their own strong passwords which they remember and share between your devices, which have face or fingerprint recognition.

I use last last pass password manager which needs a master password to access it.

Missedout which password manager would you recommend please?

My pin number is remembered by the pattern it makes on a keypad - the diagonals and straights - not the number itself. I'm good at remembering shapes. Some passwords are written in my phone book - disguised as a name and number. Others, I just have to keep changing, using the 'forgotten password?' feature, but never mind, I manage!

I have a password book , easy. Nobody is going to bother breaking into my house, going through my shelves, finding an old address book, looking up my passwords, and then breaking into my PC to use them .

If anyone wants to go to all that trouble to break into my bank account, it won't net them much reward !

I can remember most of mine. But, because OH’s memory is poor, I have typed them all up and the piece of paper is locked in his gun cabinet which has to be locked by law!

I use a name with a telephone number.
The name has a clue telling me which account, I know which letters of the name and which consecutive numbers in the telephone number make up the password.

I have posted this before - I make no apology for doing this again:-

I don't think many realise that, in a way, a lot of this [hacking your account] is not personal. It's not about your account, about you being targeted.

Every minute of every day, millions of digital probes get sent out over the Internet by powerful machines/computers to test the possibility of accessing data held on servers run by organisations that provide services we need. Not all the probes are malevolent, some are used by companies to test their digital resilience. However, they are all looking for weaknesses, a way into people's personal data.

Sometimes the criminals will get lucky, they will manage to harvest data held on a poorly managed server.

Your password is not just used to allow you to access your data, it is used to encrypt your data when they are stored too. The the more complicated your passwords, the harder your data are to read. Criminals may not bother to decrypt your data but just sell harvested data in bulk on the dark Web. They have already made money from possessing information about you.

At this stage, more automatic programs will kick in. If machines can decrypt the data, they will and they will use it. They will automatically collate data comparing it using huge data bases. They won't know that someone only has a paltry amount in an account, they don't care. A few taps on a keyboard and many are targeted at once.The victims have to deal with getting new cards, the loss of confidence, empty accounts, responsibility for spamming emails, changing passwords is the least of the problem.

I know how annoying passwords are but also how difficult the use of other means of identification are too. For the time being, I think we are stuck with them.

I use two passwords for everything. Life is too short for making up codes to access my pets at home account or whatever.

I use a password manager. I never use the same password twice and the password manager can fill in password information online as I need it. I am able to give secure access to my password manager to chosen family members. There is no possibility of misreading a password on a password manager (hand written ones can be misread), it is copied and pasted. I don't even see it on screen unless I make it visible (no screen grab possible either this way).

My password manager is also available to all my devices.

I think many on this thread are taking unnecessary risks with their security. I don't think you realise that passwords are harvested and cracked in large numbers from the servers they are stored in and sold on. You aren't being targeted but you can still be hacked - this is made easier if your passwords are simple and use variations of the same words/numbers.

I use 0333 88888888 as my phone number. If rung the caller gets a message that you don't want cold calls.

As for passwords I have a basic password that gets a twist every time. Using the website initials is a great idea.

I change my card PINs so they are the same.