random passwords (was Re: Worm...)

[John Chambers]

> If a reasonable and articulate and competent person like Mr. Greely
> still feels like giving an example with a number like 500,000 for a
> reasonably large key space, and may be prepared to trust a site's
> security to it, I shudder thinking of what less prepared people might
> come up with.

No need to wrack your brain thinking about this; just get an account
at any bank with an ATM.  I've yet to hear of one that uses a password
(i.e., a PIN) that is more than a 4-digit number.  Some banks even
refuse to use PINs that do things like repeat digits, thus decreasing
the search space even further.

(Oh, well, it's just money. :-)

-- 
John Chambers <{adelie,ima,maynard,mit-eddie}!minya!{jc,root}> (617/484-6393)

[Any errors in the above are due to failures in the logic of the keyboard,
not in the fingers that did the typing.]