[ale] password management

[Transam]

On Wed, Jul 23, 2003 at 03:44:37PM -0500, Preston Boyington wrote:
> > You'd want at least 10 characters for routine use.  15 
> > letters would be
> > much better.  My "strong" passwords are longer than that and 
> > non-trivial.

> <kidding>
> since everyone assumes that I am security minded as I use Linux, I simply
> use "password" for all my logins and keep my servers at their default.
> _that_ way they won't _ever_ hack my system as they will be using complex
> algorithms and brute force attacks that ignore defaults since no one in
> their right mind would use these.

I hope you're kidding.  I know someone who uses that password for the
root account of his internet-accessible system.  Another uses "root".
Don't worry.  The crackers WILL try the easy ones first.

> my backup password is "pleasedonthackme" (don't tell anyone ok?)
> </kidding>

> seriously though, are not pass phrases better?  I know they are a pain, but
> a couple of sentences with intermittent characters should be better than a
> single word, correct?

If the pass phrases are not common quotations that might be found
in Bartlett's Quotations or other data that probably is online somewhere,
and if there is misspellings, non-alphabetics, etc., these should be good.

> (sets some money aside for Mr. Toxen's book.  hopes there is a recipe for
> his secure bbq in back)

Thanks.  My recipe for BBQ is 400 North to the Lake Lanier exit, turn left,
go 0.25 miles.  Visit Pappy Red's.  They have an airplane parked on the
roof.  Real airplane.  Real good BBQ.  Alternatively, P'tree Industrial
North of 285 by about 3 miles.  Left off the exit head to JR's.

> Preston
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