From: Rich Burroughs <richieb@teleport.com>
Date: Mon, 22 Jul 1996 04:44:05 +0800
To: cypherpunks@toad.com
Subject: Re: Length of passphrase beneficial?
In-Reply-To: <2.2.32.19960721172615.006e6a64@mail.sd.cybernex.net>
Message-ID: <Pine.SUN.3.92.960721111918.11352A-100000@julie.teleport.com>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain


On Sun, 21 Jul 1996, Erle Greer wrote:
[snip]
> 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.)

Ugh.  Erle, you might want to check out the Diceware method for generating
passphrases.  It lets you generate a lengthy passphrase that is random and
that you might actually be able to remember :)

I don't have a URL handy, but if you go to Altavista and search for
"diceware" you should find it...  It might be indexed at Yahoo, too...

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

Actual short answer: yes :)

Look for the passphrase FAQ, for a better explanation than I can give...

______________________________________________________________________
Rich Burroughs  richieb@teleport.com  http://www.teleport.com/~richieb
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