My last two password were in this form: X xxx'x xxxxxxxxxx xxxxxxxxxx.
and Xxxxxxx xx xxxxxx, xxx xxxx. Simple, straightforward sentences of 29 and 31 characters respectively. Easy to type and remember, and while I don't have the time to calculate their bits of entropy, I'll bet it's fairly high. Kurt On Wed, Aug 10, 2011 at 15:06, Steve Kradel <[email protected]> wrote: > It looks like Randall @ xkcd supposes each word in "correct horse battery > staple" has 11 bits of entropy, which is to say, the person choosing the > password has a comfortable vocabulary of 2^11 (2,048) words from which he > will pick four at random. (2048^4 is the same as 2^44.) I think 2,048 > words is a pretty low estimate, at least in English, but that's not really > the point... > > On the other hand, he suggests forcing people to choose "strong" passwords > presses humans into a doofy pattern that is actually much *less* random than > four dictionary words. 16 bits of uncertainty for the "uncommon base word" > means the user has possibly picked a "difficult" dictionary word (from a > vocabulary of 2^16 = 65,536 words -- generously more than a normal person > knows), and then mangles it up a little bit in semi-predictable ways to > satisfy the password strength checker. > > It definitely raises an interesting question... why do so many > organizations elect for minimum 8-character complex passwords, instead of > "non-complex" passphrases of at least 16 or 20 characters, when the latter > would be easier to remember and probably stronger? > > --Steve > > > On Wed, Aug 10, 2011 at 5:33 PM, Crawford, Scott <[email protected]>wrote: > >> Interesting. I’d like to understand how the bits of entropy are >> calculated though.**** >> >> ** ** >> >> *From:* Andrew S. Baker [mailto:[email protected]] >> *Sent:* Wednesday, August 10, 2011 4:06 PM >> *To:* NT System Admin Issues >> *Subject:* Almost, but not quite OT: Passwords**** >> >> ** ** >> >> http://xkcd.com/936/# <http://xkcd.com/936/> >> **** >> >> ** ** >> >> Yet, very pertinent.**** >> >> ** ** >> >> ** ** >> >> ** ** >> >> ** ** >> >> *ASB***** >> >> *http://about.me/Andrew.S.Baker***** >> >> *Harnessing the Advantages of Technology for the SMB market…***** >> >> ** >> > ~ Finally, powerful endpoint security that ISN'T a resource hog! ~ > ~ <http://www.sunbeltsoftware.com/Business/VIPRE-Enterprise/> ~ > > --- > To manage subscriptions click here: > http://lyris.sunbelt-software.com/read/my_forums/ > or send an email to [email protected] > with the body: unsubscribe ntsysadmin > ~ Finally, powerful endpoint security that ISN'T a resource hog! ~ ~ <http://www.sunbeltsoftware.com/Business/VIPRE-Enterprise/> ~ --- To manage subscriptions click here: http://lyris.sunbelt-software.com/read/my_forums/ or send an email to [email protected] with the body: unsubscribe ntsysadmin
