Ideally, you should use a different password for every item that requires a password. If someone finds out your cell phone password, they don't also have access to your bank account. Of course, remembering this many passwords can be tough. If you use a Macintosh you can use the Keychain feature to store your passwords. Of course, you then need to protect the main Keychain password VERY well! There are also a plethora of programs available for Windows that will do a similar remember passwords for you.

If you don't feel that you can use a different password for everything, then at least use several different passwords. A good strategy is to have a password to use on sites that don't matter. For instance, who cares if someone compromises your password to your subscription to CNN Breaking News Alerts. But don't use that same password on your Amazon account where someone could spend money on your credit card. In other words, if you have to duplicate passwords, only use them in a few places to minimize exposure.

You also want to have separate sets of passwords for personal and work stuff. The last thing you want is your disgruntled spouse who knows the password to your home's alarm system sending an e-mail from your work e-mail account because it uses the same password.

As I said, it is best to use a different password for everything, but in the real world, we know that's not always possible. You just need to assess each item before deciding whether I should have its own unique password.

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