1996-07-21 - Length of passphrase beneficial?

Header Data

From: Erle Greer <vagab0nd@sd.cybernex.net>
To: cypherpunks@toad.com
Message Hash: 04488f6b655d6c4ebb7be2d8ca7b74b4cba91c948714adbb8ef92d4673e1478f
Message ID: <2.2.32.19960721172615.006e6a64@mail.sd.cybernex.net>
Reply To: N/A
UTC Datetime: 1996-07-21 19:35:40 UTC
Raw Date: Mon, 22 Jul 1996 03:35:40 +0800

Raw message

From: Erle Greer <vagab0nd@sd.cybernex.net>
Date: Mon, 22 Jul 1996 03:35:40 +0800
To: cypherpunks@toad.com
Subject: Length of passphrase beneficial?
Message-ID: <2.2.32.19960721172615.006e6a64@mail.sd.cybernex.net>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain


-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE-----

Feel free to skip to 'Actual Question:' below.

I am one to succumb to the assumed benefits of overkill.  I like
the fact that everyone's use of crypto can cause each
individual transmission to become less suspicious to prying
eyes.  I would love knowing that the govt. spent billions of CPU
cycles on one of my transmissions only to find my softball
schedule.  We could lure them by making our subject lines
'Fertilizer-Bomb Recipe' or 'CHILDPORN.GIF Attached', not
condoning either, of course.

I have a 2048-bit PgP key and pseudorandom a/n character
generator, from which I chose a large passphrase similar to:

f4VnI1G1mGcwTZ1vGoyPwN4NLojF8Ee9ff1aicOGn87x0nwwHhJUo6XSYKEawRne
(Yes, cut-n-paste, but my only in-house threat is my wife.)

Actual Question:
Does the length and randomness of a passphrase contribute at all
to the overall security of a cryptosystem?

Thanks in advance!

-----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE-----
Version: 2.6.2i

iQEVAwUBMfJn0HychImXHmeJAQFpeQf/cLkFsELVEOquVseK7m6Ze+R1zFzkrM8G
T8M4NTdoOALSQKY5Xjj/YHPt9iGY28U5FAPJt/v77YFsewiLxskcJn5fd6G2wX2j
gneSXat0ExIMdLkUuIFDZl2tUny7bBgj2AimIK2Pd0BVlYT8RXPaDhpeWjmHKZpg
vbZaS4yuSSFBy8oucfjO7ivShcraRwIG0Rq6/GCXuhT6Oi0EOaCUWJ+ofYVSqMkb
Jsz9ElMVVVFc+caPwYn5mSVy8Xj3u9UxKOPPoXOpEpJ3gGPsuoiemcwcB/F1VQ34
+uC1YtdndAAu5jRU5JCWYbqYA+BiWY4K/vl9jaJ29BKjLiVfKrU+wA==
=W00K
-----END PGP SIGNATURE-----
vagab0nd@sd.cybernex.net
http://ww2.sd.cybernex.net/~vagab0nd/index.html
Visit web page for public key.






Thread