How strong are your passwords?

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jlee

Lifer
Sep 12, 2001
48,518
223
106
9 characters, combined upper/lower/numeric and special -- only registered as strong. Meh. :p
 

rhino56

Platinum Member
Oct 6, 2004
2,325
1
0
that rating is total bs

my password is the equivalent of gh5686hd9vw69347230 and it said it was medium. my password is that exactly except like gh might be kh and 5686 might be 7235.

so you mean to tell me its only medium?
 

etalns

Diamond Member
Dec 20, 2001
6,513
1
0
My password is weak.

Oh well, if some asshat wants to hack into my e-mail and read retarded e-mails from chicks who talk too much, be my god damn guest. Maybe then I won't have to listen to it.
 

rhino56

Platinum Member
Oct 6, 2004
2,325
1
0
Originally posted by: rstrohkirch
You only have lower case and numbers, most companies will ask for more then that
im changing it into an impossible to break code than using upper, lower, numbers, and special symbols

so H7GtsrFe9?J894geH56#)Ts`sdB}o0)O

 

iamwiz82

Lifer
Jan 10, 2001
30,772
13
81
Originally posted by: rhino56
Originally posted by: rstrohkirch
You only have lower case and numbers, most companies will ask for more then that
im changing it into an impossible to break code than using upper, lower, numbers, and special symbols

so H7GtsrFe9?J894geH56#)Ts`sdB}o0)O

There was a story not too long ago about passwords that I posted in another thread, but now I cannot find it. Basically, symbols and caps don't add as much as length. The story broke down the time it took password crackers on various machines (old, current, server farms, etc) and the >10 character letter and number combos held up really well.

So getting people to use passwords easier to remember that are longer actually works better.
 

rhino56

Platinum Member
Oct 6, 2004
2,325
1
0
Originally posted by: iamwiz82
Originally posted by: rhino56
Originally posted by: rstrohkirch
You only have lower case and numbers, most companies will ask for more then that
im changing it into an impossible to break code than using upper, lower, numbers, and special symbols

so H7GtsrFe9?J894geH56#)Ts`sdB}o0)O

There was a story not too long ago about passwords that I posted in another thread, but now I cannot find it. Basically, symbols and caps don't add as much as length. The story broke down the time it took password crackers on various machines (old, current, server farms, etc) and the >10 character letter and number combos held up really well.

So getting people to use passwords easier to remember that are longer actually works better.


i got my password now 3 characters at a time. once i have it really memorized i add 3 or 4 more. thats how i got to 19 random characters. i figured that also since a guy who worked on cracking them with distributed computing told me the same thing.


I was a participant in the RC5-64 cracking:

On 14-Jul-2002, after 1757 days of searching the winning key to RSA Labs' RC5-64 project was successfully recovered by distributed.net.

So, after 1,757 days and 58,747,597,657 work units tested the winning
key was found! While it's debatable that the duration of this project
does much to devalue the security of a 64-bit RC5 key by much, we can
say with confidence that RC5-64 is not an appropriate algorithm to use
for data that will still be sensitive in more than several years'
time. On the distributed computing front, however, the RC5-64 project
clearly demonstrates the viability of long-term, volunteer-driven,
internet-based collaborative efforts. The next time someone bemoans
the public's short attention span or need for instant gratification
you should remind them what 331,252 people were able to accomplish by
joining together and working for nearly five years. distributed.net's
RC5-64 project clearly shows that even the most ambitious projects can
be completed by volunteers thanks to the combined power of the
internet and distributed computing.

Ignoring artificially high numbers resulting from network
difficulties, we completed 86,950,894 workunits on our best day. This
is 0.12% of the total keyspace meaning that at our peak rate we could
expect to exhaust the keyspace in 790 days. Our peak rate of
270,147,024 kkeys/sec is equivalent to 32,504 800MHz Apple PowerBook
G4 laptops or 45,998 2GHz AMD Athlon XP machines or (to use some
rc5-56 numbers) nearly a half million Pentium Pro 200s.

Over the course of the RC5-64 project, 331,252 individuals
participated. We tested 15,769,938,165,961,326,592 keys.
 

ATLien247

Diamond Member
Feb 1, 2000
4,597
0
0
I'd argue that all your long-ass, random passwords are weak because nobody could reasonably expect to memorize all of that, and would write the password down on a sticky note and then stick it on the bottom of your keyboard. :D
 

rhino56

Platinum Member
Oct 6, 2004
2,325
1
0
Originally posted by: ATLien247
I'd argue that all your long-ass, random passwords are weak because nobody could reasonably expect to memorize all of that, and would write the password down on a sticky note and then stick it on the bottom of your keyboard. :D
19 randoms, memorized :D

 

ATLien247

Diamond Member
Feb 1, 2000
4,597
0
0
Originally posted by: rhino56
Originally posted by: ATLien247
I'd argue that all your long-ass, random passwords are weak because nobody could reasonably expect to memorize all of that, and would write the password down on a sticky note and then stick it on the bottom of your keyboard. :D
19 randoms, memorized :D

Sheesh! Throw in some ASCII characters in there while your at it... :p
 

rhino56

Platinum Member
Oct 6, 2004
2,325
1
0
Originally posted by: ATLien247
Originally posted by: rhino56
Originally posted by: ATLien247
I'd argue that all your long-ass, random passwords are weak because nobody could reasonably expect to memorize all of that, and would write the password down on a sticky note and then stick it on the bottom of your keyboard. :D
19 randoms, memorized :D

Sheesh! Throw in some ASCII characters in there while your at it... :p

its really easy if you just build it up slowly, once a week add 3 or 4 and before you know it you could be like 50 long if you wanted.
 

fs5

Lifer
Jun 10, 2000
11,774
1
0
Originally posted by: rhino56
Originally posted by: ATLien247
I'd argue that all your long-ass, random passwords are weak because nobody could reasonably expect to memorize all of that, and would write the password down on a sticky note and then stick it on the bottom of your keyboard. :D
19 randoms, memorized :D

Random characters are pointless, passpharses are easier to remember and longer. (And easier to type.)

Heck making your password "Random Characters Are Pointless!" is safer than your 19 random string and I can commit that to memory easliy.