Password Managers

Middle age is when your classmates are so gray and wrinkled and bald they don't recognize you.

Almost every electronic gadget we own and every online site we access requires a password.  Passwords are needed for nearly all our private and very personal information including bank accounts, credit cards, forums, emails and the list goes on.

I’ve often wondered how safe the password manager programs are.  Lots of companies sell apps and programs for storing and hiding all the little passwords.   Just how safe are they?

Obviously, these programs are supposed to be foolproof in that if you lose your phone, computer or tablet containing password information, the thief or finder won’t be able to access that information.  What about the company that actually wrote the program?  Some software programs contain little “trojans” that send information back to the company selling their program.  I've really been hesitant in using one of these managers because I most certainly wouldn't want my information available to others.

To begin with …. all your credit card numbers would be available including online access codes.  Bank account information could easily be hacked.  Websites and passwords with secret questions could be available for someone else’s use. 

The list of passwords used is endless.  Passwords aren’t easy to remember since so many of them require unique combinations of numbers, letters and special characters.  We want those passwords to be securely locked up.   The ideal thing would be to have one single password that would work for everything but this isn't possible.  Some companies even require that you change the password every few months or so.  How do we remember all of this?

If you search through password managers available on your iPhone, you’ll come up with pages of possibilities.  They all indicate they are secure but I'm wondering if they really are.   Some folks just try to remember the passwords and IDs.  Others write it down on a scratch piece of paper, a file on their computer or mentally file it away in their own memory bank. 

Keeping passwords both secure and manageable is no easy task. Who can remember so many different nonsensical passwords?  As we age and our memory filing cabinets get fuller, we probably need to have a back-up system to remember all these very important combinations.  I’m thinking it’s about time to try jotting my passwords down in a very safe place.  Some managers advertise no backdoor but is that really true?   The search is on .... how do you remember all of your passwords?

'Tis life on the road.


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