Well Microsoft has set a new standard for the minimum length of passwords to
"18770". Usually a password has to be 5 or 6 characters long but with the
increased security from Microsoft new high tech approach hackers won't ever
get in to your account.
"Perfect security" says one industry analyst.
Another says "It's amazing that our human factors research never stumbled
upon this before. Utterly stunning and highly effective at keeping hackers
out".
Debate is raging in the high tech security community as to whether "17,145"
or "18,770" characters offers better security. The key point in the debate
is that there are some vulnrabilities with "17,145" characters that don't
occur with "18,770" characters in the password. "There's a magic threshold
that occurs somewhere between these two numbers that we don't quite
understand yet. This puzzle is at the frontiers of security research and we
will find out about this threshold and why it provides that extra security."
However, a encryption specialist said it's dangerous to pursue this research
as it may lead to security holes that are best left undisturbed.
A new instustry of micro keyboard robots has sprung up as a result. You type
in your password once into the robot when you setup your account, then you
carry the robot with you - for security purposes - in a handy backback
weighing only 35 lbs, then when you want to log in you unpack your robot and
set it up in front of the keyboard, it has a big red button which starts
it's flailing at the keyboard with it's 80 robotic arms. Once it's typed in
the password install a new keyboard - luckily you just bought a 12 pack of
them - and begin your work session. Keep robot handy as when the screen
saver kicks in you'll need it again!
All the best,
Peter William Lount
peter@mutantbits.com
http://www.mutantbits.com
