Choosing a Set of Passwords

Today I migrated from my busted old mac using a thunderbolt cable. I had to book into target disk mode and remember the password to my encrypted disk. I have always been weary of password management applications such as 1Password because I believe that they relieve the mind of having to keep track of a set of passwords. I have devised a technique that works for me.

Have a 5 word passsphrase generated from random words, (my favorite is to use DiceWare) replacing some of the letters with numbers, and intentionally misspelling some of the words. Then burn after memorizing.

Use a tiered system:

5 word passphrases for things needed to be absolutely secure
 3 word reduction for less security
 and 1 word for things like GrubHub

Whenever I encounter a credential portal, I run through my tiered system, taking a guess at how secure I thought I would need my information to be on a given service. Today I had to remember passwords to old business card accounts I haven’t used for 4 years, passphrases to various google accounts I had used over the years to login to specific services. My tiered system saved my butt time and time again.