One my subscribers has just shared a great little trick which he’s kindly agreed to allow me to pass on to you here.
As you know you should always use STRONG passwords like:
j5khdFHSf83mi$2@dj8
Trouble is these are near impossible to remember.
To solve this you can use a password manager such as RoboForm or LastPass (my choice).
However, your password manager is not always on hand when you need it.
For instance, you might be using a friend’s computer or an internet cafe PC in a foreign country.
I’ll quote our tipster directly here:
“(1) Come up with a phrase or statement that is unique to you, something that you will always remember.
(2) Substitute the words in your statement for letters and characters
Sound complicated? Not really, see the examples below…
Example 1:
“My twins Emily and Steven were born in 2016 in Austin Texas”
I used this to create the original example shown
Password = mtE&Swbi16iAT
The breakdown:
My twins Emily and Steven were born in 2016 in Austin Texas
m t E & S w b i 16 i A T
If you look closely you can see how I came up with the password
i. I have used the initial letter of each word
ii.Where a name is involved I have used an upper case letter to follow normal English usage
iii.Where possible I have substituted a character for a word
iv. I have abbreviated dates
Example 2:
Password = iwb@n2657ETAiTC
“I was born at Number 2567 Elm Tree Avenue in Truro Cornwall”
i w b @ n 2567 E T A i T C
Example 3:
igm2Gww21iHF~
“I got married to Gemma who was 21 in Helsinki Finland”
i g m 2 G w w 21 i H F ~
Sometimes an irregular character cannot be easily substituted so you can decide on a position and character to add into your passwords
as in example 3 where I have added a tilde “~” at the end.
Extra tip:
You could always use something in the statements to help recall the application or website to which the password belongs to.
Do you think you would be able to remember such statements even if you could not remember the passwords themselves?
This is the sort of methodology I use to remember passwords when I am unable to make use of programs to assist me.”
Very handy indeed I thought – what do you think? Would love to hear your thoughts good/bad/indifferent so please drop a comment below 🙂 Cheers, Rob.
This system will work for me! Thanks for passing it along.
Excellent, thanks for your comment Judy!
Cheers, Rob.
Hi Rob,
That was an excellent of a password!
Glad you liked it Jane, thank you 🙂
Cheers, Rob.
Great idea
Thanks Paul 🙂
We need usernames and passwords to so many things now when we’re marketing online that I’d never remember the phrases.
I use LastPass which is excellent but like you say you run into issues if you’re not on your own computer or not on one where you’d be happy to install LastPass temporarily like a public place, hotel etc.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts Trevor, appreciated 🙂
Cheers, Rob.
Great tip Rob and thanks for sharing it.
gtpR&tnks4shrit
Lee
Pleasure Lee, glad to pass it on 🙂
Cheers, Rob.
This is a very handy tip, yes. Thanks (both).
However, I use DashLane as a password manager, and you can *always* log in to dashlane online and retrieve your passwords (as long as you’ve remembered your DashLane master password) – no matter who’s computer you’re on.
So there’d be no need for this. Ever.
Steve
Thanks Steve, appreciate your feedback. How about using it for the master passwords?
Cheers, Rob.
Have lots of passwords I need to remember. This will make it easy. Would you suggest I use the same password for all programs I have, or a different one for every few programs?
Have received a lot o good information from you and will keep reading your emails.
Hi Rita,
I would definitely recommend different passwords and also a password manager such as Roboform or LastPass (extremely important and useful tools these). Using this technique in the post for every password you have would, I think, be pretty difficult or impossible. But using it sparingly is definitely something to think about.
All the best, Rob.
I switched to doing this some time ago, once i realised the shortfall of using LastPass
That’s great James – thanks for commenting.
Cheers, Rob.
Very useful tip Rob thanks.
Glad to pass it on Bob, glad you liked it 🙂
All the best, Rob.
Thanks for sharing Rob… great tip. This technique is an improvement on one I have been using, but only for websites that force me to be more secure than my usual syntax.
Thank you Keith, very interesting contribution, appreciated.
All the best, Rob.
I like it and simply explained, thank you.
Regards,
Ronnie
I started using something similar quite a while ago. Unfortunately, as I don’t use the same password for anything, I now need a system to remember which sentence I used for which password.
Haha! Great comment Tony, good to see you here on the blog, thanks for commenting 🙂
Kind regards,
Rob.
Rob, this is one of the best tips for remembering passwords I have ever seen. I use the website or business name or the first 6 letters if longer, and transpose those letters to the corresponding numbers from a phone keypad. Ex Google.com would be 4664530266. Dot is 0. Every 4th digit is then inserted with initials of one my kids, with the middle initial being lower case. If I need a special character, I will add a $ at the end. So 4664530266 becomes 4664K5302r66A$. If I have more than one account, I will use the first letter of the user name, and also place that letter at the beginning in lower case. So it becomes….s4664K5302r66A$. I also use a password manager. But like you said, sometimes you need to know the password where you don’t have access to the password manager or even internet access. Just another way to do it.
Wow! Thank you Carl, I need to read your comment twice, very interesting 🙂
Cheers, Rob.
A good way to remember passwords.
I always use dense versions of a sentence which describes a life experience or special names for things or persons in my life.
Thanks for the extra tip Arav, I can see that would be very useful. Appreciate you sharing your thoughts!
Cheers, Rob.
Hi Rob.
I also use LastPass (from your recommendation ages ago) and understand the previous comments from other people about your Password Manager not being available when “out of the office”.
However I paid for the upgrade on LastPass which gave the ability to have LastPass on my Tablet and my Android Phone so I can view my “vault” at any time via my phone. So I am never without my Passwords.
I think the upgrade on LastPass may also be free now (not 100% sure)
Glad you are using LastPass Steve – that’s a good point on the ability to use it on other devices. You still have to install it though I believe. So maybe not something you’d do on an internet cafe PC or a friends device? Also, this technique I think is very helpful for remembering the master password for password managers.
All the best, Rob
Hi Rob.
The way I meant it is;
you install LastPass on your phone as an App, and when you want to use an Internet Cafe Computer you can pull your passwords up on your phone via the LassPass App to then enter them into the Internet Cafe Computer and continue working.
Therefore you always have your LastPass Vault in your pocket on your phone.
Cheers
Steve T
Hi Rob.
The way I meant it is;
you install LastPass on your phone as an App, and when you want to use an Internet Cafe Computer you can pull your passwords up on your phone via the LassPass App to then enter them into the Internet Cafe Computer and continue working.
Therefore you always have your LastPass Vault in your pocket on your phone.
You can also save your LassPass passwords into an Excell Spreadsheet and you could keep a hard copy too.
Here’s how: Click on your LastPass Icon on your Google Chrome Toolbar to open. Choose the More Options from the drop down. Choose PRINT from the within More Options. Choose SITES. Enter your LasstPass Password. Your sites will load in a new LassPass Window. Select all the information and Copy. Open a new Excell page and paste in. Save your new Excell Sheet wherever you like or HardCopy Print it.
Jobs a good un!
Cheers
Steve T
Sorry for the duplication 🙁
Thank you Rob, for sharing such a useful ,simple, but so
important great little trick.
I know you like Last Pass, what are your views on DashLane
mentioned above.
Thank you John, appreciate your feedback. I can’t comment really on DashLane as I’ve never used it myself.
Cheers, rob.
What a great piece of knowledge to pass on… Why didn’t we think of that? The obvious
is what always stares us in the face… until we are given a big kick in the “a” to jog our
thoughts.
Rob, some time ago, you did a video on “How to redirect selected Gmail addresses to a nominated folder within your Gmail account”. Now I cannot find same… Do you think you
could resurrect same for your subscribers. I am sure that we all would appreciate receiving and implementing that information.
Thanks in anticipation…
Hi Roy, Glad you liked this and I think the post you are referring to is here: https://www.gainhigherground.com/a-great-little-tip-60-secs-work-for-big-benefits/
Hope that’s the one!
Cheers, Rob.
Thank you Rob. Appreciate it for sharing. Very good
You’re welcome Helen – thanks for taking the time to comment!
Cheers, Rob.
Thank you Rob
Yes brilliant…safe and easy to remember !
My thoughts exactly Philip, thanks for your feedback and glad you found it useful 🙂
For years I have used the first line of a favourite book or even the line of a song (as an alternative when you have to change passwords) coupled with something specific to the site. A favourite poem would do. And obviously tricks like substituting @ for a, 3 for e, 1 for l can help.
So you have a standard part, a special character separator then the site. So a gain high ground password might look like this
– let’s say i@tlp (imagine all the lonely people),
& (special character)
GHG for gain higher ground
i@tlp&GHG
And when using special characters make sure they are the easy to get at ones on your mobile!
A great tip, thank you for sharing it.
Jo
It’s a pleasure to pass it on – thank you Jo 🙂
Cheers, Rob.
Brilliant! I already use LastPass. I’d recommend go Premium for $12 a year. This will give you access to your PC passwords from anywhere and on any device.
Great Gene – thanks for the recommendation.
Cheers, Rob.
Hi Rob
Like the others before me, I concur with the positive comments made. Great tip indeed!
However, here’s a site that some might wish to visit to test out their strong passwords. It gives you the time it would take to crack them. Fun to use if nothing else.
https://www.grc.com/haystack.htm
Walt
Thanks Walt, appreciate your comment and the link 🙂
Cheers, Rob.
Brilliant…what else can I say !
Thank you David. (Wish I could take the credit!).
Cheers, Rob.
Very useful! Thanks Rob!
Hi Rob,
Was just wondering what your thoughts are on internet marketing at the moment. Vague question I know, but I’ve noticed some changes recently and was wondering is it still a ‘thing’ to start a personal online niche business, or has that become too difficult now.
I really want to do it, but some of the people that I used to subscribe to don’t seem to email as often any more, and was just wondering what this means for them and for internet marketing. Could be completely wrong though… I guess it depends on niche etc. Just asking as a newbie looking to start out and would be interested to hear your opinion.
Thanks,
Alan
Hi Alan,
Thanks for your comment. It’s tricky to answer this question. I can tell you my own view and experience which is that most niches are bigger than ever in terms of size and profits. Obviously some come and go, as do to marketers of course. One thing I’ve learned over the years is to be careful not to read too much into what you see in your inbox. IT’s important to do proper market research to see where the money is being made. Bit of a general answer I know but hope this helps a bit.
Cheers, Rob.
Great Idea Rob (and whoever shared it with you).
As an alternative – I recommend using 1Password (if you have a Mac – don’t know if there is a Windows version). This means that you have access to it via your phone too, which you can even sign in via thumbprint (for example). You can access the sites via your phone/ipad directly, or view the passwords and then manually type them in to which ever site you are accessing on a separate ‘internet cafe/work computer’.
1Password updates on all my Macs and I have found it invaluable.
Paul
Thanks Paul, appreciate your input 🙂
Great idea Rob.
I use LastPass with an account so I can access it securely anywhere.
When I can’t, or don’t intend to use some account that a random application wants me to set up to use their products, I use a password with the name of the site as they write it with Passw0rd or P@55w0rd attached to it, followed by 5 numbers. e.g. GainHigherGroundPassw0rd12345
This makes a 29 character key, which is harder to brute-force crack than a 10-15 character one.
Thanks for your comment David. I’m no expert on this specifically as I’ve said, but I suspect – due to the password cracking dictionaries that hackers use – something like “P@55w0rd” is no stronger that using “password”.
So I wonder if this is as secure as it might first seem. I’m not sure….
There’s a (quite scary!) video here which I found to be quite an eye opener: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7U-RbOKanYs
All the best,
Rob.
You are quite right unfortunately Rob using simple substitutions
like you quote above offer nothing but a false sense of security
Common substitutions such as these are well known and understood by hackers
with evil intent and included within custom dictionaries.
As are the following O=0, B=8, E=3, i=1, A=@, S=5, or S=$
1= !, 2= “, 3= £, 4= $, 5= %, 6= ^, 7= &, 8= *, 9= (, 0= )
(Taken from the “shifted” row of number keys on keyboards)
For information “Hackers” are experts knowledgeable and skilled with computer systems and code typically in troubleshooting.
In the media the term is often just used to refer to those who use this knowledge with evil intent however this is not the true meaning of the term Hacker. (Defending my industry here ; )
Dave
I would never use a computer at an Internet cafe, but would use my own at places that have wifi. I’d be reluctant to enter a password even if I had to look it up on my smartphone.
I recently had to reset Windows on my main computer, so the first connect with my reinstalled apps has been awkward. I will change my lastpass master password using this password creation scheme because I had a bugger of a time remembering it as part of my crash/recovery nightmare. It’s genius!
Lee
Thank you for your contribution Lee, I hope you get it all ironed out soon!