Monday, January 25, 2010

Protect me from Passwords

From the moment I turn on my computer in work each day, I start the password remembrance battle. What's my password? Type it in - hoping it's the right one..........Error message - incorrect password. You see our system in work automatically looks for the password to be changed every so often for security reasons, so depending on what day and month it is, the password is different. The worst thing is that you don't get a reminder that the system has changed the password to one of your two chosen passwords!!!!! Aaagh!
Then lunchtime comes and I decide to check my gmail account for mail and once again - what's the username and password. Now this is a lot more straightforward as it's just the one username and password - Bobs your uncle - email checked, no problems there!!!
Then I get a call to say I emailed you last week about the night at the cinema and realise that people are still sending mail for me to my old Eircom Account which I had to stop using because of the amount of spam I was getting. So then I think, maybe I should check that account just in case something has come in that I need to see. For the life of me I can't remember the password - is it the cat's name? Which of the three cats? Is it something to do with the kids or is it a name of a book? Did I use something from Harry Potter as the password? Then I see the 'forgotten password' option so I click on that, only I can't remember the user name I used to use! I give up on that one - if the mail is really important, it will find it's way to me.
Then I get thinking that I should check my old hotmail account that I had for the Children's book Club I used to run - oddly enough I remember the username and password for that one straight off, but it has been so long since I used that account, hotmail have deactivated it and it's a huge deal to re-activate it. I give up on that one!
Home time and I decide to leave the computer on so as I don't have to fight with it over the password the next day. Not a good idea I know as it wastes energy, but what about my energy each morning?
Home at last and all the chores done so I decide to have a go on facebook. I have several accounts on facebook for things that I am involved in and it's just so easy to get passwords mixed up with the wrong user name. I should do a list but then what if it falls into the wrong hands? What if some facebook hacker gets into my laptop and steals my identities? No lists!
I think to myself passwords are everywhere - the house alarm, my credit card pin, my laser card pin, facebook, twitter, websites, email, pc's.......AAGH!!!!!
Even this blog - another password to remember - I picked an easy one different to all the others - now if I can just remember what it is..............

1 comment:

  1. :) I have a few unremembered usernamed accounts out there in the ether too. Thought it was only me who did that ;) LOL. Love, Julie x

    ReplyDelete