Re: Length of passphrase beneficial?

[Rich Burroughs <richieb@teleport.com>]

On Sun, 21 Jul 1996, Erle Greer wrote:
[snip]
> I have a 2048-bit PgP key and pseudorandom a/n character
> generator, from which I chose a large passphrase similar to:
>
> f4VnI1G1mGcwTZ1vGoyPwN4NLojF8Ee9ff1aicOGn87x0nwwHhJUo6XSYKEawRne
> (Yes, cut-n-paste, but my only in-house threat is my wife.)

Ugh.  Erle, you might want to check out the Diceware method for generating
passphrases.  It lets you generate a lengthy passphrase that is random and
that you might actually be able to remember :)

I don't have a URL handy, but if you go to Altavista and search for
"diceware" you should find it...  It might be indexed at Yahoo, too...

> Actual Question:
> Does the length and randomness of a passphrase contribute at all
> to the overall security of a cryptosystem?

Actual short answer: yes :)

Look for the passphrase FAQ, for a better explanation than I can give...

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