What is the safest, most effective way to manage online usernames and passwords?
Your best bet is to have a standard, easy to remember username and then keep a very secure password by making a password based on a keyphrase.
For example, Uncrate Rules To The Max could be Ur2tm (that's a good one because it uses an uppercase, a lower case, and a number). Then you just add in a few characters to make it site specific. So for G-mail it would be Ur2tmGm, Amazon would be Ur2tmAm and so on. People would need to crack multiple passwords to see the pattern, and even then they'd need to guess the site specific addendum. Anyone who doesn't know what the phrase is will look at that as a random collection of characters. It won't show up in dictionary attacks.
If you want to be extra safe, don't use the password remembering features in your browser. Just remember what your password key combo is and enter it by hand every time.
Extra security when you're using someone else's computer? Install Firefox mobile on a thumb drive. You can boot from it and you'll be using all your own bookmarks and preferences without worrying about using the browser installed on the computer.
10 Answers
Remember that your email is the weak point in your on-line identity, if somebody can gain access to your email account, they can change the passwords to most of your on-line accounts.
Also, symbols don't hurt in a password, and it's slightly better to not have the first letter be the capital, (it's the first thing password cracking programs try)
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The best online tracker i've found is KeePass
In general i recommend the lifehacker blog for this kind of info. they're usually pretty spot on.
There's a variety of applications out there for storing passwords. I personally don't utilize any of them. My organization provides an application that stores credentials. For my personal stuff, I store my passwords in a password protected document on an IronKey (www.ironkey.com).I wouldn't recommend storing your passwords anywhere on a computer. You don't have to go as in-depth as an IronKey, but I would ensure that a password is required to access the document (a "U3" flash-drive would probably be easy for the less-technical).
If you have a Blackberry and are looking for a quick solution, just use the password manager. If not, I'm sure there's an app for the iPhone.
The best way to manage passwords for multiple websites is Roboform www.roboform.com
It has a random password generator (which you can input options like amount of digits/letters) and saves specific websites usernames and passwords on RoboForm "passcards". It is free and works great for me. It also has an option where you put in all of your information on an "identity" and when you have to register for a website you just click the identity button and it will fill in the whole form for you. It takes a little while to get used to but Roboform is great.
By far the best solution for managing passwords has to be Lastpass. Lastpass works both as an add-in to firefox as well as on their website. It allows you to select auto-logins for specific sites, share individual passwords and also generate random passwords. You're also able to generate form fills with different profiles - one for work, one for personal etc
Your best bet is to have a standard, easy to remember username and then keep a very secure password by making a password based on a keyphrase.
For example, Uncrate Rules To The Max could be Ur2tm (that's a good one because it uses an uppercase, a lower case, and a number). Then you just add in a few characters to make it site specific. So for G-mail it would be Ur2tmGm, Amazon would be Ur2tmAm and so on. People would need to crack multiple passwords to see the pattern, and even then they'd need to guess the site specific addendum. Anyone who doesn't know what the phrase is will look at that as a random collection of characters. It won't show up in dictionary attacks.
If you want to be extra safe, don't use the password remembering features in your browser. Just remember what your password key combo is and enter it by hand every time.
Extra security when you're using someone else's computer? Install Firefox mobile on a thumb drive. You can boot from it and you'll be using all your own bookmarks and preferences without worrying about using the browser installed on the computer.