Re: SECURITY Digest - 15 Oct 2009 to 16 Oct 2009 (#2009-236)

[Gary Dobbins <dobbins () ND EDU>]

Has anyone else tried lastpass (.com)?  I've found it to be an option for handling these problems.  It will randomly 
generate passwords, remember them all, one for each place you visit, and (presuming their answers to how they handle 
the data are true) the storehouse of your passwords never leaves your computer unencrypted by a master password only 
you know.

I'd be interested to hear if others find this valid, or if the service has a serious Achilles Heel.



> -----Original Message-----
> From: The EDUCAUSE Security Constituent Group Listserv
> [mailto:SECURITY () LISTSERV EDUCAUSE EDU] On Behalf Of Geoff Nathan
> Sent: Saturday, October 17, 2009 6:37 PM
> To: SECURITY () LISTSERV EDUCAUSE EDU
> Subject: Re: [SECURITY] SECURITY Digest - 15 Oct 2009 to 16 Oct 2009 (#2009-
> 236)
>
> Matt said:
>
> > I tend use truly random passwords from a
> > generator or those similar in style to what Don
> > mentioned.
>
> It's of course ideal to use long, random, meaningless strings as passwords. It's
> also ideal to have a different password for each application (server, e-mail,
> banking site, etc. etc.) that we log into. But I have two e-mail accounts (three if
> we include the one that AT&T gives me as part of my home setup), a Wayne
> State single sign-on password, my bank, my credit card, my retirement accounts,
> and then the less risky ones like Amazon, Zagat, Cooks Illustrated, Tripit, and I
> could go on (as in fact I have...)
> It's simply impossible to remember all these, unless I repeat the passwords, or
> use a password wallet (which itself is clumsy, and requires its own password). As
> others have said, the password paradigm is broken, and, as long as two-factor is
> too expensive we're going to continue to have trouble, and it's not the users'
> fault. We can't ask them to do twelve impossible things before breakfast and slap
> their wrists when they don't. Eventually they will slap back, and they will be
> right.
>
> Geoffrey S. Nathan
> Faculty Liaison, C&IT
> and Associate Professor, Linguistics Program
> Wayne State University
> Detroit MI 48230
> +1 (313) 577-1259 (C&IT)
> +1 (313) 577-8621 (English/Linguistics)
>
> ----- "SECURITY automatic digest system"
> <LISTSERV () LISTSERV EDUCAUSE EDU> wrote:
> > From: "SECURITY automatic digest system"
> <LISTSERV () LISTSERV EDUCAUSE EDU>
> > To: SECURITY () LISTSERV EDUCAUSE EDU
> > Sent: Saturday, October 17, 2009 12:00:01 AM GMT -05:00 US/Canada Eastern
> > Subject: SECURITY Digest - 15 Oct 2009 to 16 Oct 2009 (#2009-236)
> >
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