Unplggd: Hide Hard-to-Remember Passwords
There’s something to be said for going old-school. While you think you’re being secure by recording all your login information in a password-protected excel file labeled “wordpass,” you’re only fooling yourself. If somebody really wanted to get in there, they probably could. That’s why, despite the prevalence of secure password-stashing apps, we think it’s a good idea to take things down on paper—using this clever bookshelf trick to hide your passwords, of course.
It’s true! You can hide your most important passwords in plain sight on your bookshelf. The trick is writing them down in an obscure spot that only you would think to look.
One Lifehacker reader suggests that using a little bit of word association, you can tap into your unique psyche and find the perfect hiding spots for your login info—written down in book margins where only you would think to look.
Lifehacker suggests you should write all your passwords down in your dictionary next to words that relate to the sites requiring hard-to-remember passwords, but we think you could do a lot better (and get more secure) by using your whole bookshelf.
Think about the site you’re recording the password for, and write down the very next word that comes to your mind. If you’re stashing the password for your online banking account, that might lead you to Riverbank and the key word, “River,” so grab for a copy of A River Runs Through It.
Think of your favorite number and write your password down on that page so you’ll know where to look for it again. You could even change your password to reflect the page number it’s hidden on.
Do you have any memory tricks for hiding your written-down passwords? Tell us in the comments!
By Taryn Fiol
(Images: Flickr member niznoz licensed for use under Creative Commons, Flickr memberdorywithserifs licensed for use under Creative Commons)
This story appears in partnership with Unplggd, a site for people who embrace technology and design in their home.
With the way my bouncing-off-the-walls brain works, I’m definitely going to have to expand my book-buying budget! (“Let’s see…which library has that copy of Letters to God?”)