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From: buck@NRL-CSS.ARPA
Newsgroups: net.unix-wizards
Subject: Don't force random passwords on people!
Message-ID: <12465@sri-arpa.UUCP>
Date: Wed, 15-Aug-84 10:44:55 EDT
Article-I.D.: sri-arpa.12465
Posted: Wed Aug 15 10:44:55 1984
Date-Received: Sat, 18-Aug-84 01:35:48 EDT
Lines: 20

From:  Joe Buck 

Right on, Stephen Wolff! At my college computer center about five years
ago, students were forced to accept random passwords. What's worse, the
accounts had some 12 digit user number, rather than the user's name.
Naturally, everyone carried around little slips of paper with their
account number and password, and almost every time I went to the computer
center, I found one or two of them.

For a good password, try the initials to a song, book, phrase, etc.
For a while, my password was "ilamiau" (the initials to a song title).
Even if someone looks over my shoulder when I'm typing it in, it's doubtful
that s/he'll remember it.

Let's not make our computers so secure that legitimate users can't function.

ARPA: buck@nrl-css.ARPA
UUCP: ...!{decvax,linus,umcp-cs}!nrl-css!buck

-Joe