Martin Grosz
06/09/2021 6:01 AM
Clarín.com
Services
Updated 06/09/2021 7:03 AM
Faced with the wave of hacks and scams on the Internet, there is a lot of emphasis on using difficult passwords: nothing like "12345678" or the date of birth, but codes like
12D-46 * G1 [cv56]
.
What few teach is how to have secure keys and
at the same time
not be
forgetting them all the time
.
There are different
techniques
that allow it.
When all the
requirements
that according to experts a
password
should meet
to be robust
are reviewed
, it
seems impossible to
memorize even one:
Have
uppercase
, lowercase, numbers, and
symbols
Be at least
8 or 10 characters
long
Do not include
serial
numbers or letters
(such as 1234 or abcd)
Do not include
personal data
easy to guess (such as ID, address, name of a child, etc.)
Use
a
different
password
on
each website
than the one used in others and those created in the past
Change keys
frequently
To make matters worse, today each person must use
many keys
: the home banking, the credit card, the AFIP, the ANSES, the email, one for each
social network
, others to buy online ... and many etceteras.
The fiscal key, one of many that people need to remember.
Photo: Juano Tesone.
Information overloaded
"The brain today is required much more than in other times.
It is overloaded
, we can no longer retain so much information", reflects
María Roca
, doctor in Psychology and deputy director of the Department of Neuropsychology of the Institute of Cognitive Neurology (INECO).
According to the expert, this contributes to frequent forgetting of passwords.
They also influence, he says, the
stress
with which one lives and that the numerous keys above must be created according
to security rules
that do not adapt to how the human brain processes information.
The big problem, says Roca, is that following the recommended guidelines we get codes that
mean
nothing to us.
"This goes against the logic of memory, which works better when one
can make sense
of what they want to remember and when they can
associate it with something
familiar,
" he says.
"The brain is overloaded," warn specialists.
That helps passwords to be forgotten.
Photo: EFE / File
Still, using strong passwords and never forgetting them
is a possible mission
.
What is needed is to adopt certain
strategies
to
aid memory
.
No method is foolproof and each person should evaluate which one is most useful to them.
Here are
three
widely used
paths
, with their
pros
and
cons
.
Method 1: write down the keys on paper (but divided and locked)
Many people, especially older adults, choose to keep
all their keys written down
in a
notebook or notebook
.
This way they can use
strong
passwords
and
easily consult them
if they forget them.
But there is a serious danger: that these papers
fall into the wrong hands
.
That is, someone manages to
steal them or take photos of them
, and thus obtain everything necessary, for example, to
empty
the person's bank
account
or do online procedures in their name.
Therefore, whoever opts for this method should take at least these
additional precautions
:
-Split information
.
You can have two (or more) notebooks stored in different places and write down
only half
of each password
in each one
.
For example, if the bank password is "NoMe.Acuerdo5798", "NoMe.Ac" will be entered in one notebook and "uró5798" in the other.
That will
make
the eventual theft of the information
difficult
.
-Save safe
.
Notepads with keys should be well
hidden
or locked in safes.
That is to say, the same way that the money to which the passwords give access would be taken care of.
Writing down your data in a notebook is very useful, but it can be dangerous if you don't take precautions.
Photo: Archive.
Method 2: use a password manager
The notebook strategy has a digital version.
It consists of keeping all the passwords not on paper, but
on the Internet
, in a special place, protected by a
mother password
.
"To help you remember all your passwords, you can use a
password manager
. It is like a
secure digital deposit
in which you keep all of them and you need a
master password
to enter it,"
Martín Alejandro Lammardo, from the
Santander
Cybersecurity
team
, explains to
Clarín
Argentina.
Managers are
applications
that are downloaded to the cell phone and installed on the PC.
They suggest hyper-strong keys for each site and store them.
There are free and paid options, which can be consulted in this note.
Disadvantages of managers?
Mainly, that they end up leaving hyper-sensitive personal data in the hands of
a third party
: a company that, like all others, can also suffer data theft.
Older adults often write down their passwords on paper.
Photo: Clarín Archive.
Method 3: trust the brain, but help it with memorization rules
According to experts, the best option of all may be to
try to remember
all the passwords.
But that will only be possible if
the brain
is
helped
.
How?
Generating keys that are
difficult to guess
, although
easy to remember
because they are
linked to
very significant
memories
or because they are based on
logical rules
.
"Passwords tend to be forgotten when they are
arbitrary
. Memories, if they are not associated with their own data, are more vulnerable", explains
Sandra Vanotti
, neuropsychologist at the Institute of Neurosciences of Buenos Aires (INEBA).
"That is why - he suggests - the most important thing is to use codes that are
familiarly
associated
with the person, such as
names of acquaintances
, vacation spots, tastes or hobbies, among others."
Using the same criteria to create all the passwords later makes it easier to remember them.
Photo File.
Point to the past
"From the Neurosciences it is known that what we learned a long time ago, it is likely that we will not forget it as easily as what we learned more recently", indicates María Roca, from INECO.
And he adds: "In this sense, the use of
numbers
that cannot be associated with us today, but that we have
learned a long time ago
, can make it easier to remember
."
Examples?
Those of
childhood addresses
or the phone numbers of
childhood friends
.
Use personal data, but modified
Roca also suggests using current personal data in the passwords, but
changed with
easy-to-remember
rules
.
Thus, instead of using numbers of
address
(eg 2482), select the numbers
above
(1371) or
later
(3593).
Something similar can be tried to use the name of
a son
, written with the letters that follow in the alphabet: instead of "
Pedro
", "
Qfesp
".
Using obvious keys or directly linked to personal data makes the task of hackers easier.
Photo: AP
Use long meaningful sentences
In the Cybersecurity team of Banco Santander they suggest that, instead of complex codes, people use
long
meaningful
phrases
.
"Safety phrases of
3 to 5 words
, or more, can be even more secure and are easier to remember. For example, 'MyToyotaEtiosesgris',' ComoasadoaparrillalosDomonas' or 'Megustamirarcanal13”, graph.
Build keys with word initials
A
twist
on the above is to remember long sentences, but taking
only the first letter
or the
first two
letters of each of your words.
In the case of "
Megustamirarcanal13
", it could be converted to "Mgmc13" or
-better-
to "
MeGuMiCa13
".
And for greater security,
add symbols
at the beginning and end: "/ MeGuMiCa13 /".
With this mechanism, there are fans of a
certain band or singer
who memorize each password by associating it with a different song, whose title can be used verbatim or by extracting the initials.
Very soccer people can also create keys using the
surnames of players
from the team that was champion in a certain unforgettable year.
Soccer fans can use words tied to their team's history to create secure passwords.
Photo Lucia Merle
The same base and variations per site
Finally, in order not to use the same password on all sites, you can also use
simplifying
rules
.
A very effective one is that all the passwords to use always have these three elements:
An invariable component
.
For example, the code "/ MeGuMiCa13 /", derived from the sentence in the previous example ("I like to watch channel 13").
That will be used in
all
keys, as a
base
.
A variable component
.
It is an addition that will be different in
each specific use
.
For example, for the
ba
nco use "/ MeGuMiCa13 /
Ba
" and the
em
ail, "/ MeGuMiCa13 /
Em
".
Or, better, "
B
/ MeGuMiCa13 /
A
" for the bank and "
E
/ MeGuMiCa13 /
M
" for the email.
A version indicator
.
Finally, there may be an extra number that adds or subtracts units each time the password is asked to change.
For example, "B / MeGuMiCa13 / A-
V1
" (for the first version), then "B / MeGuMiCa13 / A-
V2
" (for the second version), and so on.
With all these tricks, the memory will only have to remember a simple phrase.
And all the rest, even if you forget, can be
rebuilt
just by remembering the creation rules used.
MG
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