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By: Cernyr
December 1, 2016
Password Generation Principles

By: Cernyr
December 1, 2016

Part I
Password:According to the definition, a password is a string of characters or words which are used as an authentication tool for users to provide identity.Some of the key attributes of a password are:- It must fit into the CIA (Confidentiality, Integrity, Availability/Accessibility) triad.
- It has to be easy to remember for the user for everyday use.
- Not easy to guess or brute-force.
- Can be entered in less than ten seconds to avoid frustration and mistyping.
- Contains upper and lowercase characters, as well as numbers and non-alphanumeric symbols, like;#&!%() etc.
- Less than 28 bits: Very Weak
- 28-35 bits: Weak
- 36-59 bits: Reasonable
- 60-127 bits: Strong
- 128+ bits: Very Strong
Part II
As the human mind have the tendency to remember things we do often (habits), we own (items), we are (attributes, characteristics) or are trained to remember (encyclopedic memory) we can utilize these feats.For example, you can remember what you did in the morning, what you ate during your last meal, what items are in your immediate proximity.Let's say, you have a big monitor in front of you, three pens nearby and ate boiled eggs for breakfast.Using the principles above, we can generate 3 passwords:- Ihave1BigMonitorinfrontofme Entropy level: 128.7 bits, password length: 27
- Thereare3PensonmyDesk Entropy level: 97.1 bits, password length: 21 -Iate2BoiledEggsforBreakfastthisMorning Entropy level: 186.4 bits, password length: 38.
Links:Password: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/PasswordEntropy: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Entropy_%28information_theory%29Password strength meter and entropy calculator: http://rumkin.com/tools/password/passchk.phpBrute-force time calculator: https://www.grc.com/haystack.htm