An easy way to manage all those passwords

I really like the speed and convenience the Internet affords my daily life. From searching and finding useful information to managing my finances, the web is a most helpful tool. Millions of our customers use discover.com to track their spending, pay their bill and get their service questions answered. But before we give you online access to your account we need to be sure you are who you say you are. Once you validate your information with what you told us when you applied for the card, you will need to select a password. That’s like the key to your house or car. When you have it your life proceeds smoothly. You can come and go as you please. But if you lose it, things get a bit more complicated. It’s no different on the web.

I’ve been working in the online space since 1994 and have learned a few tricks about password management that I’d like to share with our customers. Most people have one password that they use everywhere which makes it easy to remember. It also makes it riskier. Using one password is like having a master key. If someone were to get hold of it, they could open all the doors. I would advise you to have at least three passwords.

• One password for news sites, social networks, etc. Sites that don’t store personal financial data
• A second password for online shopping sites where your credit card number may be stored
• A third password used exclusively for your financial services sites like credit cards and banks.

All your passwords should be strong, which means a string of seemingly random numbers and letters, 9 to 11 characters in length and not obviously connected to your life (birthday, child’s name, etc.). Here’s a trick I use. Take a favorite song lyric, or quote or even poem and use it as the base of your password. For example a passage from Shakespeare’s Hamlet, “Brevity is the soul of wit.” Use the last three words “soul of wit.” Add to it a meaningful year in your life, perhaps your high school graduation, 1989, and bookend the numbers with your phrase. You now have a strong password in 19soulofwit89. Create three of these, one for each class of site as suggested above.

Passwords are always paired with a user name. Unless required, don’t use your e-mail address. Here are some ideas about how to select your user name.

• Use a nickname if you have one (thankfully I don’t)
• Use your last name then first name
• Use someone else’s first name (spouse, child, best friend) then your last name or vice versa

The next task is remembering all these variations. Here’s a suggestion. When you arrive at the log-in page of a particular site where you have already registered, select bookmark or favorite from your browser toolbar. But instead of simply adding it, customize the description to include the site name, your username and password. But don’t type all the characters in the clear. Use the first couple of characters so you are easily reminded which of the three schemes you used when you registered, then the appropriate number of asterisks ***. Whenever you want to log-in to the site in the future, simply reach for the bookmark and you will instantly see the proper log-in information. Your lost password problems should be over.

Here’s what the favorites screen on your browser might look like. Let’s assume your name is Derek Swinson, your child’s name is Candace and you are using the Shakespeare quote with high school graduation year of 1989.

Favorites Sample Screen - Yours may be different

It’s important to mask your password, just in case anyone has the opportunity to look at your favorites. And if you pass along your computer in the future you will want to export your favorites to a flash drive or other portable media device to be loaded on your new computer, a real time saver. Then delete all bookmarks from the old machine and wipe the hard drive clean.

That’s it. Spend a few minutes establishing your password conventions up front, customize your browser favorites menu and your online life will go much smoother and definitely be more secure. Feel better already, don’t you? If anyone has other tips, please share them here.

The E-Business team wants your online experience at discover.com to be smooth and secure. You’ve got lots of things to remember in your life. Hopefully this tip means you have one less thing to deal with.