Can someone please enlighten me of the dangers of keeping passdwords in word.doc files on the harddisk, and is it safer to keep them on usb flashdrives, even if they are regularly connected to the computer?
It's not that I can't remember a complicated password; however IF one were to forget it at some critical point of time...under duress
It is better to forget and generate a new one through the "recover password" options that all site offer.
I forgot my banking password a several times, but I created new ones later.
I keep relying on my forgetfulness as a measure to keep changing the passwords. Whenever I forget about it, I just create a new one.
Regarding to storing the passwords in a text/doc file, it is horrible. That is the digital version of postits.
Follow the advises of the previous posters: 1password or any password management program would be infinitely better.
In these password management programs, you just have to memorize one password, the pass management program's. There you store all the passwords you want securely and randomly generated.
It has its strong and weak points theoretically, but in practice it enhances your security tenfold.
Cheers