Passphrases - Revision history

imported>Huston: Nobody will read this, but I know it's there.

2020-12-02T17:14:06Z

Nobody will read this, but I know it's there.

← Older revision		Revision as of 17:14, 2 December 2020
Line 13:		Line 13:
	** <tt>Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their country.</tt>		** <tt>Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their country.</tt>
	** <tt>The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.</tt>		** <tt>The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.</tt>
			** <tt>[https://xkcd.com/936/ correct horse battery staple]</tt>
	* Lines from a movie		* Lines from a movie
	** <tt>This is my rifle, this is my gun</tt>		** <tt>This is my rifle, this is my gun</tt>

imported>Huston at 15:47, 5 June 2007

2007-06-05T15:47:21Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 15:47, 5 June 2007
Line 8:		Line 8:


	== ~~Secure~~ passphrases ==		== Insecure passphrases ==
	As noted above, passphrases are sometimes easier to make secure because there's less restrictions on them (length, content, etc). However, it's just as easy to create very insecure passphrases:		As noted above, passphrases are sometimes easier to make secure because there's less restrictions on them (length, content, etc). However, it's just as easy to create very insecure passphrases:
	* Very well known phrases		* Very well known phrases

imported>Huston: Expanded topic

2007-06-05T15:22:32Z

Expanded topic

← Older revision		Revision as of 15:22, 5 June 2007
Line 1:		Line 1:
	~~{{inuse\|~~a ~~short while~~ --[[~~User:Huston~~\|~~huston~~]] ~~10:46, 5 June 2007 (EDT)}}~~		A passphrase is a long phrase used mostly in high-security encryption situations. It is usually a series of words, which singly would be very insecure due to being in a dictionary (and thus susceptible to a dictionary attack, where words are tried one at a time), however because they are grouped together they form a very secure phrase which is both easy to remember and very difficult to crack. Passphrases are commonly used for things such as encrypting [[GPG]] private keys, [[SSH]] keys, and can even be used for a standard Unix account - but only if everything which will access the account can handle the large passphrase instead of a smaller [[Passwords\|password]].


			== Why a passphrase? ==
			A normal [[Passwords\|password]] is usually short - between 6-15 characters. While a truly random password would be very secure, the truth is that most passwords are very insecure, mostly because of their length. A very secure password would be something like <tt>oF&18."#</tt> however that would be very difficult to remember (and not so easy to type). Most passwords end up being some kind of mnemonic, or otherwise easy to remember sequence, and therefore easier to guess by an attacker. If the password contains any part of a dictionary word, it can be brute-force attacked more easily, because many password guessing algorithms will start with dictionary words and modify them, trying each modification to see if the password has been guessed.

	~~Note~~ that passphrases are ~~not~~ the ~~same as [[Passwords\|passwords]]~~. The ~~former~~ are ~~long and very secure~~, ~~while~~ the ~~latter~~ are ~~usually short (6~~-~~15 characters)~~ and ~~less~~ secure.		By comparison, a passphrase could be a simple string of dictionary words: '<tt>Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their country.</tt>' Though each word is in a dictionary, the string itself is more complex than the words (except that this particular string is well-known, and would be tried during a brute-force attack). Since it's a longer string and can have punctuation and spaces - and therefore less restrictions on content - it is sometimes much easier to think of a very secure passphrase than a secure password. You might choose something like '<tt>I love listening to Rush, but secretly I like to sing 99 Luftballoons</tt>' and as long as nobody knows that secret about you, they are not likely to crack your passphrase.


			== Secure passphrases ==
			As noted above, passphrases are sometimes easier to make secure because there's less restrictions on them (length, content, etc). However, it's just as easy to create very insecure passphrases:
			* Very well known phrases
			** <tt>Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their country.</tt>
			** <tt>The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.</tt>
			* Lines from a movie
			** <tt>This is my rifle, this is my gun</tt>
			** <tt>Ray, if someone asks you if you are a god, you say YES!</tt>
			* Lines from a song
			** <tt>On my ship, the Rocinante, wheeling through the galaxies; headed for the heart of Cygnus, headlong into mystery.</tt>
			** <tt>All in all it's just another brick in the wall.</tt>
			** <tt>Neunundneunzig luftballoons Auf ihrem Weg zum Horizont</tt>

			These are bad choices because they would show up in a phrase book which could be used to try to brute-force your passphrase. No matter how obscure the lyric or line from a movie may be, if you know it then someone else does too - and that's good enough for it to be tried. However, something that you know, such as how you felt about a movie or a song, is not as likely to be known by all and therefore a much more secure passphrase.


			== See also ==
			* [[Wikipedia:Pass phrase]]
			* http://www.iusmentis.com/security/passphrasefaq/
			* http://www.pgpi.org/doc/faq/passphrase/

imported>Huston: Tagging inuse

2007-06-05T14:46:41Z

Tagging inuse

← Older revision		Revision as of 14:46, 5 June 2007
Line 1:		Line 1:
	{{~~stub~~}}		{{inuse\|a short while --[[User:Huston\|huston]] 10:46, 5 June 2007 (EDT)}}


	~~This page will hold information about passphrases - why they're important, why they should be long and obnoxious, and some examples.~~

	Note that passphrases are not the same as [[Passwords\|passwords]]. The former are long and very secure, while the latter are usually short (6-15 characters) and less secure.		Note that passphrases are not the same as [[Passwords\|passwords]]. The former are long and very secure, while the latter are usually short (6-15 characters) and less secure.

imported>Huston at 03:08, 4 May 2007

2007-05-04T03:08:13Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 03:08, 4 May 2007
Line 1:		Line 1:
	{{stub}}		{{stub}}
	~~[[Category:Needs Cleanup]]~~
	This page will hold information about passphrases - why they're important, why they should be long and obnoxious, and some examples.		This page will hold information about passphrases - why they're important, why they should be long and obnoxious, and some examples.

			Note that passphrases are not the same as [[Passwords\|passwords]]. The former are long and very secure, while the latter are usually short (6-15 characters) and less secure.

imported>Huston: Passphrase moved to Passphrases: Pluralifying

2007-05-04T02:50:55Z

Passphrase moved to Passphrases: Pluralifying

← Older revision	Revision as of 02:50, 4 May 2007
(No difference)

imported>Huston at 02:49, 4 May 2007

2007-05-04T02:49:49Z

← Older revision		Revision as of 02:49, 4 May 2007
Line 1:		Line 1:
			{{stub}}
	[[Category:Needs Cleanup]]		[[Category:Needs Cleanup]]
	This page will hold information about passphrases - why they're important, why they should be long and obnoxious, and some examples.		This page will hold information about passphrases - why they're important, why they should be long and obnoxious, and some examples.

imported>Huston: New page: Category:Needs Cleanup This page will hold information about passphrases - why they're important, why they should be long and obnoxious, and some examples.

2007-05-03T19:47:59Z

New page: Category:Needs Cleanup This page will hold information about passphrases - why they're important, why they should be long and obnoxious, and some examples.

New page

[[Category:Needs Cleanup]]
This page will hold information about passphrases - why they're important, why they should be long and obnoxious, and some examples.