Stop IMing Your Passwords

Eric • 17th Jan 2008 • Tips

Here’s a tip for you: stop IMing your buddies your passwords!

Well, duh. Why would anyone do this in the first place? Because sometimes you’ll be typing in your password and hit “Enter” then look up and realize your buddy IMed you just before you started typing, so you typed your password into the reply and sent it to him.

How do you stop from doing that? Well, you could learn how to type without looking at the keyboard (including special characters), or, when you’re ready to submit your password, use the mouse and click the button, rather than hitting enter.

It won’t help you Linux-folk who think the world should be green text on a black background, but for anyone using a GUI, this tip will prevent you from having to change your password to your bank account, after explaining to your co-worker what your contribution to the conversation really meant…

Co-worker: Hey, did you finish the report for the Peterson project?
You: loverboy69
Co-worker: What???
You: uh… I’m wrapping it up now.
Co-worker: OK, lover boy.