Brian and Libby's Blog

It's been too long...

I had a feeling that it had been too long since I'd logged in to comment on, well, whatever it is I comment on. My suspicions were confirmed when I went to log in and couldn't remember my username and password. I am starting to favor the idea of a microchip I just scan in front of everything so I don't have to remember 1,001 passwords any more. I have four separate passwords JUST for the blogs I manage (not all my own), not to mention my five e-mail accounts, all checked on a regular basis, my 3 bank accounts (none Swiss), information saved in Amazon, Harry and David, Barnes and Noble, Overstock.com and pretty much every other online retailer. The list goes on...SallieMae.com, my health care provider, my dental health plan provider, every utility bill I pay, ebay (of course), paypal, every single airline's frequent flyer club (I think I have one frequent flyer mile at each airline, which if combined, after the transfer fee, will buy me one bag of peanuts), my auto insurance...even EZpass requires me to log in! There are many more but I won't bore you with the details, you could probably name them for me b/c you have all the same accounts.

In addition to the above referenced "personal" accounts, I have 15 separate logins for various work functions, whether they be my corporate AmEx or the various systems I log into each day. These are the absolute worst, because they all have to be changed every 21 days or something. It takes me 21 days just to remember them! So I do what any other privacy concerned employee would do...I list them on a post it note just above my PC or "craptop" as some people call them (grrrrr). Hey, it's better than putting all of my personal info in a Word doc on my desktop labeled "Passwords" (who does that??).

Anyways, work decided this was absolutely absurd (as it is) and they came up with this thing called P-Synch - the mother of all password "tools." P-Synch basically allows me to somehow synchronize the various systems I work on so that once I'm logged into my machine, I can just log into other things without entering my password. Here is the catch: So far, there are only 2 systems P-Synch actually works with. And yesterday I got an e-mail from IS that 1 will not require, wait for it.....a password! I have gotten 4 e-mails from IS this week reminding me to REMEMBER MY PASSWORD (in uppercase red bolded font, as shown). I don't even know what my user name is for this particular system. I do however, remember my mother's maiden name, which, as it turns out, is all I, or anyone wishing to steal my identity, needs to know.

To their credit, the masterminds behind the idea of people forgetting their passwords every day have gotten more creative with the "security questions" they put in place in case you forget your password. Here's the thing - I don't remember the answers to those either. Example: Where were you born? This could warrant a number of answers, all correct (e.g. Syracuse, St. Joseph's hospital, New York), and by the time I find the correct answer I would most certainly have locked myself out of my account. And they're getting much more difficult. Example: What was the name of your favorite teacher? (Answer: no clue) What is your favorite vacation destination? (Answer: Well it's funny you should ask, because I have been pondering whether I like Maui or Mexico better...)

Ok I've gotta go e-mail IS b/c I just tried three incorrect passwords and locked myself out of yet another system...

posted by Libby @ 9:03 AM