Password Choices

[PAAAAAR%CALSTATE.BITNET at cunyvm.cuny.edu]

>In article <16562 at brl-adm.ARPA> JPLILER at simtel20.arpa (John R. Pliler) writes:
>Why not use a *random* password generator?
>    -Charlie cmiller at sunspot.UUCP
replied
>Because you can generate your own password that has meaning to *you*
>and is easy for you to remember, but appears random.

Random passwords are not particularly memorable or typable. A
nice random password generator should therefore provide a memorable
meaning as well.

Kurzban wrote a paper in the ACM SIGSAC Review called
"Easily Remembered PassPHRASES - a better Approach" (Vol 3, Numbers 2 & 4,
Fall-Winter 1985).
(SIGSAC is the Association for Computing Machinary's Special Interest
 Group on Security, Audit and Control which publishes a periodical
 "Review")
In essence the password can be the initial letters of a
sentence generated by picking words in the  correct grammatical categories
and with the correct initial letters. When the system generates the
password it looks up word to make a random phrase like (using a dictinary)
Interns Stew dimples ballooning  masterful Office-boys.
(only better!).
Nobody has gone the whole hog of using the fact that humans find
obscene phrases the most memorable ones:-)

I have never heard of a working version of this scheme and have not had
time to test it out.
Dick Botting
PAAAAAR at CCS.CSUSCC.CALSTATE(doc-dick)
paaaaar at calstate.bitnet
PAAAAAR%CALSTATE.BITNET@{depends on the phase of the moon}.EDU
Dept Comp Sci., CSUSB, 5500 State Univ Pkway, San Bernardino CA 92407
Disclaimer: What with my brain, my fingers, this Mac, Red Ryder,
            the PDP and its software, NOS and the CSU CYBERS,
            plus transmission errors, your machine, terminal,
            eyes, and brain,.....
       I probably didn't think what you thought you just read any way!