Yep, there's a reason 2FA recovery keys are usually printed and stored safely.

With that said, one way to avoid someone compromising service A due to somebody breaking into service B is to have different passwords everywhere, so a Password Manager is more convenient anyway.

I have yet to see a sticky note password that was anywhere near NIST compliant lol.

The “under the keyboard” part at least requires physical access

That's fine at home. Not so great in an office, though

This is why passphrases are better than passwords. So the “Under the keyboard” can be used as password. It has 3 out of the 4 types to match complexity and plentiful for length. And so much easier ro remember. It could be also a quote from your favorite movie or book, part of a lyric of your favorite song, etc.

That's why you should never change your password. No one will think to guess @utumn2O23 in 2026.

Holy $#!7111

Alt joke:

Thanks for the tip! My password is now....

hunter2 I feel more secure already. :D

I will take a stanza from a song, use the first letter from each word, switch the S to 5 or $ as an example, and make sure I have two uppercase, two lower, two numbers. and two special characters, 8 minimum, although now it runs about 13.

I hum as I type in my password. All I have to remember is how I typed it out.

Come at me, dictionary cracks. The result is bonkers as fuck, but I loved that stanza. I have passwords I have used for 20+ years.

My coworker who sits next to me recently commented to me that I always hum the same tune when I log into my computer. Then he mentioned I hum a different tune when I log into the proxmox.

My sticky note would be like:

computer - Local H

proxmox - Sonic Youth

mail server - Future of the Left

NAS - Faith No More

Inventory - Slothrust

etc.