Passwords.. how good is yours?

[Chancie]

Originally Posted by tapu

Question: I once advised some friends (well, colleagues) that you could use your childhood phone number, along with a letter or two. Area code included depending on how many characters you need. They liked that because it was easy to remember what the number was, as well as what they'd decided to use as a password.

I understand the limited longevity, but in general, is there anything to say about that?

Originally Posted by LaneyDoll

Oh, now I could easily do this. I would rather enter numbers---so much easier.

(eagerly awaiting replies from the tech people)

I suspect that a number that has a special format, like a telephone number or a zip code, is a bad choice.

I play a number guessing game with my students, and as soon as they figure out what 'kind' of number it is, it's all over for the person with the secret number.

I think my students are wonderful, of course, but they can't guess-and-check as fast as a computer can.