Time to add another digit to your password?

I was reading an interesting article today that estimates the time required to crack a password (using brute force) for various types of passwords. You think your "paSSw0rd" is secure because you used mix-cased characters and numbers? Well it might be for someone with a Pentium 100 and a short attention span, but anyone willing to wait 1.5 years to crack your password will get your data. However, someone with a strong workstation doesn't need to wait that long - 25 days is all he needs.

So let's say you are even more sophisticated, as I used to consider myself, and you add some symbols to your password. I always thought my password was super-secure because it used mixed-case letters, numbers and multiple common symbols - something like "pA$$w0R@". However, according to the chart, this password could be cracked in 2.25 years with a reasonably strong multi-core workstation. This may seem like a long time, but it really isn't - your password should last as long as the value of the contents require - my banking information will likely remain valid for the next 10-20 years. For me, 2.25 years is simply not enough. So maybe I should add one more digit?

Before adding just one digit, consider a distributed network of machines like distributed.net is using for their RC5 project. This project recently showed that it was capable of trying 139,285,658,551 passwords a second!! That's 139 Billion keys (yes, that is a B) per second. Simply amazing. With a system like this, a hacker could break your 8 character password (that includes symbols) in 83 days.

Adding a single digit would increase this time to about 22 years to crack, which is still a little too close for my liking. After all, in 20 years machines will be a million times faster, so the equivalent of a Pentium 100 in 20 years will be able to crack your password in about 2 hours.

I think it's time to ditch the 8 character password and use something more reasonable like 12. This would expand the keyspace size by 84 million times. This would cause a network like distributed.net to take 20 million years to crack. Even in 20 years, the it would still take 20 years to crack.

Wi-Fi for the masses

- It looks like a large Styrofoam takeout container. The 14-pound box would fit into a backpack were it not for the two antennas, set well apart. It can withstand subfreezing temperatures and 165-mph winds; it's even lightningproof. With the lid bolted down tightly, the box offers no clue as to what's inside.

Now this is something the islands of the Caribbean need to consider. Setting up a mesh, in my opinion is the way to go. and everyone can be involved in that. Not just the large corps. Vincy, take note.

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