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Path: utzoo!attcan!uunet!lll-winken!lll-lcc!ames!mailrus!csd4.milw.wisc.edu!bionet!agate!saturn!ucscc.UCSC.EDU!haynes
From: haynes@ucscc.UCSC.EDU (99700000)
Newsgroups: sci.crypt,comp.unix.wizards,news.sysadmin
Subject: Re: password security
Message-ID: <5835@saturn.ucsc.edu>
Date: 23 Dec 88 05:01:34 GMT
References: <11013@ulysses.homer.nj.att.com> <2308@cuuxb.ATT.COM> <4420@xenna.Encore.COM> <259@gloom.UUCP> <5005@b-tech.ann-arbor.mi.us>
Sender: usenet@saturn.ucsc.edu
Reply-To: haynes@ucscc.UCSC.EDU (Jim Haynes)
Organization: California State Home for the Weird
Lines: 16

In article <5005@b-tech.ann-arbor.mi.us> zeeff@b-tech.ann-arbor.mi.us (Jon Zeeff) writes:
>The simple solution seems to be to force users to use some non alpha
>character somewhere in the middle of their passwords.  Users then tend 
>to use a combination of two words which prevents the dictionary search.

the 4.3-tahoe-BSD version of passwd seems to do this.  At least the last
time I logged into a tahoe system and tried to change my password it
wouldn't rest until I had put a non-alphabetic character into it.
Had the same experience on a Convex machine.


haynes@ucscc.ucsc.edu
haynes@ucscc.bitnet
..ucbvax!ucscc!haynes

"Any clod can have the facts, but having opinions is an Art."
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