# A use for your old cars **URL:** \ **Category:** General Discussion\ **Created:** [July 6, 2018, 1:36pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/a-use-for-your-old-cars/120468 "2018-07-06T13:36:38Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![VDCdriver](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/vdcdriver/32/30_2.png) [@VDCdriver](https://community.cartalk.com/u/VDCdriver)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2018, 1:36pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/a-use-for-your-old-cars/120468/1 "2018-07-06T13:36:38Z")
If you’re like me, you periodically change your passwords on the sites of banks, brokerage houses, and other entities that store your financial information. But, after a while can be difficult to come-up with new, unique passwords. Recently, while trying to think of some new passwords, I decided to use the year, make, and model of some of my cars of yesteryear, as well as some of my father’s old cars. I even split the model year into two parts–in front and in back of the actual word–just to make it a bit more obscure. So, a password might be something like… _19Volvo74POS!._ If you are stumped for new passwords, you might want to consider using my new “system”. 🤔 ---
**Author:** ![MikeInNH](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/a587f6/32.png) [@MikeInNH](https://community.cartalk.com/u/MikeInNH)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2018, 3:03pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/a-use-for-your-old-cars/120468/2 "2018-07-06T15:03:46Z")
Have you thought about using a Password management system? > **[The Best Password Managers for 2019](https://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2407168,00.asp)** > > Still using your kid's birthday as your universal password? You're heading toward trouble. With a password manager, you can have a unique and strong password for every secure website. We've evaluated two dozen of the best password managers to help... Some of these are free. I have McFee on all my systems, so I get True Key for free. ---
**Author:** ![shanonia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/9de053/32.png) [@shanonia](https://community.cartalk.com/u/shanonia)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2018, 3:04pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/a-use-for-your-old-cars/120468/3 "2018-07-06T15:04:29Z")
POS - Product of Sweden? ---
**Author:** ![PvtPublic](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/pvtpublic/32/13089_2.png) [@PvtPublic](https://community.cartalk.com/u/PvtPublic)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2018, 3:06pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/a-use-for-your-old-cars/120468/4 "2018-07-06T15:06:31Z")
Yeah…That’s it !! 🤣 ---
**Author:** ![jtsanders](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c2a13f/32.png) [@jtsanders](https://community.cartalk.com/u/jtsanders)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2018, 5:10pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/a-use-for-your-old-cars/120468/5 "2018-07-06T17:10:11Z")
How many times can I use POS before it’s rejected for duplication? ---
**Author:** ![VDCdriver](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/vdcdriver/32/30_2.png) [@VDCdriver](https://community.cartalk.com/u/VDCdriver)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2018, 5:23pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/a-use-for-your-old-cars/120468/6 "2018-07-06T17:23:40Z")
> [@jtsanders](#): > > How many times can I use POS before it’s rejected for duplication? Just keep moving it around… beginning, end, middle of password. You can even split the letters! I just might use 19VolPOvoS74!! 🤔 ---
**Author:** ![jtsanders](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c2a13f/32.png) [@jtsanders](https://community.cartalk.com/u/jtsanders)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2018, 7:22pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/a-use-for-your-old-cars/120468/7 "2018-07-06T19:22:29Z")
That makes it as hard to remember as a 14 character, randomly generated password. Answer rejected. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![keith](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/keith/32/5518_2.png) [@keith](https://community.cartalk.com/u/keith)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2018, 8:21pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/a-use-for-your-old-cars/120468/8 "2018-07-06T20:21:51Z")
One pretty secure way is to interleave two words or a word and a number, i.e V1o9l7v4o. ---
**Author:** ![VDCdriver](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/vdcdriver/32/30_2.png) [@VDCdriver](https://community.cartalk.com/u/VDCdriver)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2018, 8:33pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/a-use-for-your-old-cars/120468/9 "2018-07-06T20:33:30Z")
> [@jtsanders](#): > > That makes it as hard to remember as a 14 character, randomly generated password I keep a cheap-o address book next to my computer, and I use it to record all of my many passwords–alphabetically, by the name of the website. I make my notations in pencil, so that they can be changed/updated when necessary. ---
**Author:** ![jtsanders](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c2a13f/32.png) [@jtsanders](https://community.cartalk.com/u/jtsanders)\ **Post date:** [July 6, 2018, 8:46pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/a-use-for-your-old-cars/120468/10 "2018-07-06T20:46:34Z")
Writing it down is cheating. Can’t do that. Noooooooo ---
**Author:** ![wentwest](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/wentwest/32/6073_2.png) [@wentwest](https://community.cartalk.com/u/wentwest)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2018, 1:04am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/a-use-for-your-old-cars/120468/11 "2018-07-07T01:04:50Z")
Sez who? If you can remember all the user names and passwords you have either you’re cheating and using “username” and “password” or you’re lying. ---
**Author:** ![Barkydog](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/barkydog/32/2470_2.png) [@Barkydog](https://community.cartalk.com/u/Barkydog)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2018, 2:24am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/a-use-for-your-old-cars/120468/12 "2018-07-07T02:24:34Z")
I have a password protected password docx. You know with keylogger, virus programs that can record your keystrokes all this password carp is useless. ---
**Author:** ![George\_San\_Jose1](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/e5b9ba/32.png) [@George\_San\_Jose1](https://community.cartalk.com/u/George_San_Jose1)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2018, 3:24am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/a-use-for-your-old-cars/120468/13 "2018-07-07T03:24:16Z")
That’s a pretty good idea. I often use the first three words from well known books as a basis for a password. ---
**Author:** ![jtsanders](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/c2a13f/32.png) [@jtsanders](https://community.cartalk.com/u/jtsanders)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2018, 1:14pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/a-use-for-your-old-cars/120468/14 "2018-07-07T13:14:41Z")
> [@wentwest](#): > > Sez who? Sez the IT police! The masters of the Universe! Just ask them. I write mine down, too. I used to keep them in my wallet, but I keep them on my phone now. The phone is locked and I don’t open email from suspicious sites. I think I’m pretty safe. ---
**Author:** ![wentwest](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/wentwest/32/6073_2.png) [@wentwest](https://community.cartalk.com/u/wentwest)\ **Post date:** [July 7, 2018, 4:48pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/a-use-for-your-old-cars/120468/15 "2018-07-07T16:48:17Z")
OK, now I understand. THEY say so. So, let THEM do whatever THEY want, I really don’t care. At this point, with the endless information that is mined off every contact we have with internet based technology, I trust a pencil and paper. Like @VDCdriver I use an old paper address book and write the info down in pencil so I can edit it every time I have to change a password. ---
**Author:** ![lesabre](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/lesabre/32/17221_2.png) [@lesabre](https://community.cartalk.com/u/lesabre)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2018, 9:23am UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/a-use-for-your-old-cars/120468/16 "2018-07-13T09:23:56Z")
**that is a good idea you could even remember the doors 2 or 4 or 5 [ hatch back , or engines 4-6 8.** ---
**Author:** ![PaulCh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5fc32e/32.png) [@PaulCh](https://community.cartalk.com/u/PaulCh)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2018, 12:04pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/a-use-for-your-old-cars/120468/17 "2018-07-13T12:04:34Z")
Password managers are the best way to manage passwords. I know around 5 of my passwords and I have hundreds of accounts. I depend on 1Password and LastPass for the rest. Beware, some password managers are extremely insecure. But clever of creating passwords that you need to remember. ---
**Author:** ![VDCdriver](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/vdcdriver/32/30_2.png) [@VDCdriver](https://community.cartalk.com/u/VDCdriver)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2018, 12:34pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/a-use-for-your-old-cars/120468/18 "2018-07-13T12:34:13Z")
> [@PaulCh](#): > > some password managers are extremely insecure. Can’t **any** internet entity be hacked if the hackers are skilled and persistent enough? Just the thought of a hacker getting a treasure trove of all of my passwords is enough to keep me from using an online password manager. I would prefer to use a low-tech approach by simply using a cheap address book to alphabetically list all of the sites that I visit, with the passwords noted below the name of the website. The only password that I have committed to memory is the one for my checking account, because I access that account online daily. All of my other passwords–and there are many–are written in pencil in that address book. ---
**Author:** ![PaulCh](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/5fc32e/32.png) [@PaulCh](https://community.cartalk.com/u/PaulCh)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2018, 12:46pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/a-use-for-your-old-cars/120468/19 "2018-07-13T12:46:05Z")
Anything can be hacked, but knowing how a system works helps determine the risk. LastPass has had a paid public vetting. In a system like LastPass, (assume 1Password also), the keys are not held by the company but only by the user, it is based on the **trust no one** philosophy. If someone stole the database from LastPass it would be worthless to the attacker due to the difficulty in breaking the passwords to access the LastPass data. Implementation is very well done. LastPass did have one break in, passwords were not stolen but LastPass was very quick to warn its users and ask them to change passwords. There are good things about a paper based solution, someone needs to get access to the physical paper. Problem is that if you are moving to 16+ character random passwords they can be difficult to type, especially on a smart phone. Another issue is that any solution that requires you to type in a password is vulnerable to a keystroke logger. Good password managers not only avoid that problem but also avoid using the clipboard for entering passwords. There is malware out there that looks for goodies in the clipboard. No solution is perfect but a **properly done** password manager makes the cost of breaking into its vault expensive. Also, you need a system to allow someone else to access the password manager if something happens to you. The company is helpless in receiving your passwords if you don’t have the master password. ---
**Author:** ![VDCdriver](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/cartalk/user_avatar/community.cartalk.com/vdcdriver/32/30_2.png) [@VDCdriver](https://community.cartalk.com/u/VDCdriver)\ **Post date:** [July 13, 2018, 12:54pm UTC](https://community.cartalk.com/t/a-use-for-your-old-cars/120468/20 "2018-07-13T12:54:35Z")
> [@PaulCh](#): > > if you are moving to 16+ character random passwords they can be difficult to type, especially on a smart phone I don’t use my smartphone for any “sensitive” functions. Everything that requires a good level of security is accessed from my laptop at home, which sits a few inches away from my low-tech book containing my passwords.