Originally Posted by ValerieS
Look, Dropbox is great for transferring large files that Gmail won't take, but as for saving your passwords, I think I would prefer saving them locally on a separate CD or USB (though I would keep them in a drawer and take them out only when needed).
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I have a half-dozen or so base passwords, each with 2-3 variations using capital letters, numbers, and/or non-alphanumeric symbols. Rather than write out the full password in my "database" (which is really just a text file) I write 1-3 characters that remind me which variation of which password I used.
For example, a base password could be "dogsreallysuck". Variations could be "DogsReallySuck!", "d0gsreallysuck", and "D0gsReallySuck!". Reminders could then be "d", "D!", "d0", and "D0!". (No, this isn't a real password I use, or have used.
)
If someone gets a hold of the list, they can tell that I use the same password for Reddit and Imgur, but the 2 character reminder isn't going to be of much use to them in figuring out what that password actually is.
I feel that this is a reasonable compromise between security and usability. It's secure enough that I'm comfortable leaving it in "insecure" places (eg. an unencrypted copy in a plain text file on my hard drive, a copy in my Dropbox, and a copy in my browser's sync service), and that someone casually stumbling across it won't be able to use the information they've found, but it's still usable enough that I don't have to worry about losing a tiny USB drive or forgetting the password to an encrypted volume.
On a side note, Blizzard passwords are
not case-sensitive, which is something that's always bothered me.