in reply to 8-character password limit?

In my opinion? No. On the other hand, overly complex password rules encourage people to write them down on PostIts™, which doesn't tend to improve security.

I've seen some pretty hideous password schemes. One place where I worked required all passwords to be of the form C(VC){2}, where "V" is a vowel (aeiou) and "C" is a consonant (any other letter in the 26 character Roman alphabet). Nothing else, upper case only. This machine was not on the Internet, but still!

emc

"Being forced to write comments actually improves code, because it is easier to fix a crock than to explain it. "
—G. Steele

Replies are listed 'Best First'.
Re^2: 8-character password limit?
by spiritway (Vicar) on May 14, 2006 at 23:42 UTC

    I have always wondered what the big deal was about writing passwords down. I do it all the time, if it's something I have problems remembering. Then I put it in my wallet. If I really need to look at my password, it's right there, as safe as my wallet. If someone gets hold of my wallet, they still wouldn't know what the passwords were for, unless it was a co-worker or something.

    Now I use my cat's name for a password. But his name is zo4WQfoenc32G, and I change his name weekly.

[reply]

      Writing your password down and taping it to your monitor is probably a trifle less secure than your wallet.

      I could say that your cat's name would be tough to pronounce, but it probably makes no difference what you call a cat; they don't come when they're called.

      emc

      "Being forced to write comments actually improves code, because it is easier to fix a crock than to explain it. "
      —G. Steele
[reply]

In Section Perl Monks Discussion