For some reason the banks of the world seem to think that allowing your browser to save your password is insecure. I’ve never really understood this. Banks are one example, but there are various sites that don’t allow you to save your password. Most of them involve money in some way — utility companies, phone companies, the list goes on.

Not allowing saved passwords leads to:

• People using the same password for everything
• People forgetting their passwords often

Both of these scenarios expose huge security holes. Hackers attack the weakest point in the system. In this case, it’s users’ tendencies.

If someone uses the same password for everything, then there’s a good chance they will end up at a site that doesn’t use an encrypted login system. Now their password is being sent through the internet in clear text. If that’s their bank password, then they’re basically inviting people to log in.

To deal with forgotten passwords, sites allow passwords to easily be reset. How is this secure? If you know my mother’s maiden name and the name of the city in which I was born, you can probably reset my password. For many people, that’s not difficult to find. Remember Sara Palin’s email getting hacked?

Note: The password reset is sometimes confirmed via email, which makes the process more secure.

Really, I would like to remember just one password — my computer’s login password — and assume that my desktop (locked in my apartment) is secure enough. It would be nice if others saw things the same way.