Re: Need to generate passwords

With all due respect to those who have offered there suggestions on
generating passwords, I think we need to reconsider the scenario of the
original request.

The original request was that new users be given a password, that would be
changed by them to whatever they want the first time they sign in.  This is
where the real problem lies.

No matter how sophisticated or randomised the password, it will be useful
for about 30 seconds.  After that, the user will put in the wife's name or
the dog or (heaven forbid) 'password'.

So while we can come up with all sorts of wonderful formulas, if, in the
end, the user is choosing their own password, it will all be for naught.


And even if we assign passwords, please remember the most common method of
password hacking in companies.  It is that the hacker simply rings up and
asks IT for the password, or for IT to reset it to 'password' so he/she can
start again.  "Hi, I'm Fred from manufacturing.  I've forgotten my
password.  Can you tell me what it is?".

Not exactly high tech!  It doesn't matter how sophisticated you make the
password, if you simply tell it to the hacker over the phone, you've
achieved nothing.

The closest anyone has got to recognising this fact is the suggestion to
use the Mother's maiden name as the reset password.  A good start, but not
foolproof, of course.  Any smart hacker can get your mother's maiden name
quite quickly.   "Hello, I'm from Visa.  We have a problem with your credit
Card.  Can you confirm your identity by giving us your mother's maiden
name?"


If the aim is to keep unauthorised users out, and surely that's the point
of passwords in the first place, the best method of defense is
administrative, not technical.  It is in controlling the distribution of
passwords, the choices users have in creating their own vs taking one from
IT, and the processes we use to replace lost passwords.

All else is secondary, no matter how sophisticated.


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