a thought about UNIX login security

[bernie at watarts.UUCP]

Another simple technique is to choose an existing word or proper name, but
spell it wrong (i.e. arbitrarily replace one of the letters with a random
letter).  For example, take "elephant" but replace the 'l' with an 'x' to
get "exephant".  This is (a) easy to remember, (b) fairly impervious to word
search algorithms, and (c) confusing to people who look over your shoulder
or try to decipher hard-copy listings.  It works even better if you use a
letter that's close on the keyboard to the correct one, such as 'k' for 'l';
someone with curious eyes would swear you'd typed 'elephant', only to find
out later it doesn't work.
  Another approach is to replace the vowels, to get 'alaphent' or some such.
					--Bernie Roehl
					...decvax!watmath!watarts!bernie