Password hell
This week, in an article entitled IT Users in Password Hell, ZD Net reveals that the typical intensive IT user now has 21 passwords, and employs two strategies to cope: Use common words as passwords or just write them down. Problems with passwords among NHS doctors and nurses also formed part of my research findings this year.

How can we reduce this complexity? The tendency is often to write down passwords, or to use very obvious and therefore easily guessable ones and then not change them. On a recent visit to a friend's house, and wanting to access the Internet on her machine while she was out walking her dog, I easily came up with her Internet logon on my first guess: the name of her dog. And she a 'new media professional' too.

Is there a better way? There were companies at this week's electronic medical records conference demonstrating the future: biometric identification through fingerprints, possibly accompanied by smartcards (with fingerprint recognition, people may logon and walk away, leaving equipment vulnerable - with smartcards people tend to remove the card to take it with them, thus automatically logging off). These options are now a reality, but still a little expensive (£30 plus) for the non-corporate.

In an article on LooselyCoupled entitled How to remember all your passwords, Phil Wainewright decribes a possible strategy for selecting and maintaining a managable group of passwords whilst simultaneously maintaining security.