Dumb question:

How many different passwords do I really need?

It is annoying to have a separate one for every site I log on to. But I seem to get the impression that avoiding identity theft requires this.

Thanks

How much risk do you want to take?

I use a password scheme to make remembering passwords easier. For example, start out with a hard-to-guess password like:
32877-1jk54!DD
If you go to Amazon.com, add A to the middle or the character before the !. If you go to buy.com, add "B" to the same location.

It's not a perfect scheme, but if you remember your basic password and remember the scheme, you've reduced your risk of having a password compromised without adding much strain to your memory.

That said, you're usually protected against compromise of your accounts in some way or another, although it can be hassle to deal with any fraud. So in the overall scheme of things, people worry far too much about password theft--and far too little about, say, driving or punching in your PIN at an ATM.

Jeff/CompGuy

quote:

That said, you're usually protected against compromise of your accounts in some way or another, although it can be hassle to deal with any fraud. So in the overall scheme of things, people worry far too much about password theft--and far too little about, say, driving or punching in your PIN at an ATM.

Thanks Jeff,
I just wondered if there was any significant safety advantage in having a separate password for say, Amazon, Barnes & Noble, Borders, Pay Pal, etc. over having the same one for all.
For my bank, I can see.

Of course it's better to have many passwords than just one. If you have just one and it's compromised at one site, it can be used at many sites. I have funds on deposit at PayPal and Amazon, for example, as well as at a dozen bank sites. I'd much rather have only one of the sites compromised than all of them!

Jeff/CompGuy