A friend told me a little trick today, which not only sounded amusing but practical. With some websites, you must answer a secret question, one of a number you select yourself. Centrelink is one site that comes to mind. What he does is use the same answer for all questions, an answer like "Mickey Mouse" for example. So a question pops up "What is your Mother's Maiden Name?" Answer "Mickey Mouse.... "What was the name of your first Pet ?" .... Answer "Mickey Mouse"..
How often have you answered a question and can't think of the answer, or spelt it wrong, then you get put thru the security hoops.
Some might say it's not very secure, but is it secure ? Why not ? Who would guess Micky Mouse is the answer to all your questions. Who would guess your log in name...Who would guess your password.... Someone would have to guess all three to access your site.
I've just changed my questions and answers on one site I use and used the same answer to all questions. It works just fine.....
pauline said
03:31 PM Nov 6, 2014
good idea BG...............then I could get rid of the book I have with all the passwords, user names, pin no's and question answers written down.
aussie_paul said
03:59 PM Nov 6, 2014
One of the biggest bugbears of my life is passwords and pinsd. I went and filled up the Pajero ready to leave last time. The bill was approx $130, used my card and then realised that signature was swapped for pin back in July!!!!!!!! I had my 3 tries and no good. I asked the guy what next. He said do you have any cash? Opened my wallet and saw $50 in there. He said give me that and try card again. This time all good as we were under $100. The limit with signature was $35. I was walking out when he called me back and told me I had given him $60!!!!!!!!
Aussie Paul.
Gundog said
04:21 PM Nov 6, 2014
the simple solution is 1 person 1 password, every card I have has the same password, everything else has the same password which is a mix of upper and lowercase letters and numbers.
Hint if its a 4 numbers pick something like the last 4 numbers of your mum's phone no, or if your an ex-serviceman the 1st 4 numbers of your service no ( you never forget them)
aussie_paul said
04:50 PM Nov 6, 2014
Gundog wrote:
the simple solution is 1 person 1 password, every card I have has the same password, everything else has the same password which is a mix of upper and lowercase letters and numbers.
Hint if its a 4 numbers pick something like the last 4 numbers of your mum's phone no, or if your an ex-serviceman the 1st 4 numbers of your service no ( you never forget them)
I had that Gundog, but then a company has a hacking problem and they ask you to change your password!!!!! Our daughter is trialling some system where you have one password to enter a site that has all your passwords available. Hope that one does not get hacked!!!!
Aussie Paul.
hako said
07:56 PM Nov 6, 2014
I use a password manager that has all my passwords and uses them as required. Just have to remember the single password to unlock it as there is NO recovery. Saves a lot of hassles. https://lastpass.com/
aussie_paul said
08:11 PM Nov 6, 2014
hako wrote:
I use a password manager that has all my passwords and uses them as required. Just have to remember the single password to unlock it as there is NO recovery. Saves a lot of hassles. https://lastpass.com/
That must be what our daughter was talking about.
Aussie Paul.
Delta18 said
10:13 PM Nov 8, 2014
I use one password for nearly everything, that password? "Password"
Easy to remember..ummm what's my password? Oh yes...Password.
Santa said
10:37 AM Nov 9, 2014
Delta18 wrote:
I use one password for nearly everything, that password? "Password"
Easy to remember..ummm what's my password? Oh yes...Password.
A friend told me a little trick today, which not only sounded amusing but practical. With some websites, you must answer a secret question, one of a number you select yourself. Centrelink is one site that comes to mind. What he does is use the same answer for all questions, an answer like "Mickey Mouse" for example. So a question pops up "What is your Mother's Maiden Name?" Answer "Mickey Mouse.... "What was the name of your first Pet ?" .... Answer "Mickey Mouse"..
How often have you answered a question and can't think of the answer, or spelt it wrong, then you get put thru the security hoops.
Some might say it's not very secure, but is it secure ? Why not ? Who would guess Micky Mouse is the answer to all your questions. Who would guess your log in name...Who would guess your password.... Someone would have to guess all three to access your site.
I've just changed my questions and answers on one site I use and used the same answer to all questions. It works just fine.....


One of the biggest bugbears of my life is passwords and pinsd. I went and filled up the Pajero ready to leave last time. The bill was approx $130, used my card and then realised that signature was swapped for pin back in July!!!!!!!! I had my 3 tries and no good. I asked the guy what next. He said do you have any cash? Opened my wallet and saw $50 in there. He said give me that and try card again. This time all good as we were under $100. The limit with signature was $35. I was walking out when he called me back and told me I had given him $60!!!!!!!!
Aussie Paul.
Hint if its a 4 numbers pick something like the last 4 numbers of your mum's phone no, or if your an ex-serviceman the 1st 4 numbers of your service no ( you never forget them)
I had that Gundog, but then a company has a hacking problem and they ask you to change your password!!!!! Our daughter is trialling some system where you have one password to enter a site that has all your passwords available. Hope that one does not get hacked!!!!
Aussie Paul.
I use a password manager that has all my passwords and uses them as required. Just have to remember the single password to unlock it as there is NO recovery. Saves a lot of hassles.
https://lastpass.com/
That must be what our daughter was talking about.
Aussie Paul.
I use one password for nearly everything, that password? "Password"
Easy to remember..ummm what's my password? Oh yes...Password.
Why even bother with a password?
http://www.networkworld.com/article/2226175/microsoft-subnet/top-25-most-commonly-used-and-worst-passwords-of-2013.html