Today, I needed to generate ANOTHER password for work. This makes

- Windows Network
- Unix
- Password for the software I develop
- Exceed
- Exceed Passphrase (distinct from the exceed password)
- VPN
- Password for a new tool that lets me log into the unix machines

That makes seven. Of course, I don't use all of them every day, which is both a blessing (since I would have to chew my own leg off) and a curse (since I can barely remember where the office is every morning, much less seven passwords).

They sneak up on you. I find I need a new one every six months or so. Because of gradually increasing security restrictions, the strength of each password is required to be higher than the last.... so they are ALL different. This is not only a pain in the ass, but it's also potentially a serious obstacle to my getting work done (since if I forget a password, it could be as long as 10 minutes to get it reset, depending on how busy the operators are).

I have a solution, however, and it's even a step above writing all my passwords down on a piece of paper (which is something that security experts actually suggest, believe it or not). It's a Palm application called Keyring. Great piece of software. It's pretty much just a piece of paper with all your passwords, except that it requires a password to get into, and the data is encrypted in the flash memory (so if someone swipes your palm pilot, they can't get all your passwords unless they can guess your Keyring password). So you go from having to remember a bunch of passwords to only having to remember one. It's very nice.

This, plus a simple password hashing algorithm (like interspacing the letters of your cats name in between the letters of the domain name for the site you're generating a password for) should provide a nice solution ot the proliferation of passwords that we all have to deal with, while also providing a relatively secure set of passwords. As long as you never let anyone know the name of your cat, of course.