Friday, July 25, 2008

Online Facilty - Helpful but Painful in hidden way ~

Thanks to Dilbert.. Please Read on!

Idea of online banking, online bill payment and many other online things ... I am sure most of us would consider it a great benefit because it makes our lives easier and saves us from going physically to a place and perform the task.

However, for me, lately I have found too many online accounts as a problem in itself. I have some reasons for it:

1> Every account has different username and password policy .. i.e. some accounts suggest to use special characters and few do not.

2> Many places, the user name which I may want to keep, may already have been taken. I have to invent a new one, which may be an odd one compared to any of my other accounts. [one more thing to remember]
3> Every account asks me to keep some security questions and provide its answers~ do I (or will I be able to) even remember what questions have I chosen for which account and what was my answer there? And If I keep same answer everywhere, then also it's not a great idea from security point of view ~ hmmm..

4> Password change after, say, 45 days also cause one more headache. I know that it is necessary, but how do I remember all?
5> To keep it in my memory, I can also have an option to write it somewhere and whenever required, refer to it. But huh! how can I write my password anywhere, which can be accessible to anyone?

6> Some bank accounts have the numbers only as the user id. So more credit cards you have, different user ids you will have to remember. [This is one reason, I do not keep many credit cards and restrict myself to one] Also some accounts have only numbers allowed for passwords.
7> Gas or electricity, etc - Add to the number of accounts I already have!
4-5 System passwords (in my software area), mulitple bank accounts, online e-ticket facility for train and for flights and many more..
Recently in my company, they have created one portal where I can login and reset my domain password on my own! Who would remind me the portal password NOW to reset the domain password?

8> If I go on vacation for 4-5 or more days, then, definitely, expect me to forget the passwords easily.

I have more reasons too. I totally agree that Password policy is designed for security, but I, somehow, find it very difficult to remember and manage with these.

Do you have a good way to manage which is secure too? I guess, Girish (Mr. Wanna be Geek) will have some idea. Please Share!

Thanks
Krupa

5 comments:

Girish said...

Since you referred to me, I obviously had to chip in. But I am sad to say that despite having known me for 2+ years you never really heard me ranting about Keepass. I always told you to keep your passwords in KeePass. Its a secure offline database that can store your passwords. Keep Keepass in your portable disc drive and you are done. No more remember 100 passwords. Just use one....

http://keepass.info/

http://gmuz.blogspot.com/2008/07/open-source.html

Krupa said...

Okay.. first of all..thanks for sharing this valuable info, Gmuz sir...

now.. u know that i can not really grab the techie or any such software info if u have been talking about it all through these priceless years..

and ur open source post.. alas! I am sorry.. i could not read it.. too technical for my interest dear..

but now since u have mentioned about something that is useful to me.. i will certainly check it out and see how it helps me..

thank u ..:)
Krupa

Sathish said...

:) Well... we'll evolve... having everything in one... like a google account...

Can you find out from Girish, How secure is this keepass? is this certified?

Padawan said...

http://www.pcpro.co.uk/reviews/104912/keepass-password-safe.html

Krupa said...

Thanks for sharing that link, Padawan.