Password choices

[William E. Davidsen Jr]

In article <4387 at ptsfa.PacBell.COM> jmc at ptsfa.PacBell.COM (Jerry Carlin) writes:
| Somewhere I remember hearing or reading that someone did a study
| about typical (bad) password choices and/or what consituted good
| password choices. Can anyone give me references? Thanks in advance.

  My suggestion is to chose a random sentence from a book and use the
first letters. Alternatively, pick a sentence of your own. Example:
	passwd		sentence
	iutpotm		I use this password on this machine
	athwamw		Atilla the Hun was a mighty warrior

This makes it VERY hard for someone to look over your shoulder and steal
a password, guess a password, etc. In addition, most people who have
tried it find it is slightly easier to remember than a single word.

My favorite password (from a system with 12 char passwords)
	sssiacosbikb	some say security is a crock of shit but I know
			better


If you type in an environment where someone might watch as you type, be
sure you choose a password which can be typed reasonably quickly.
-- 
	bill davidsen		(wedu at ge-crd.arpa)
  {uunet | philabs | seismo}!steinmetz!crdos1!davidsen
"Stupidity, like virtue, is its own reward" -me