MSGID: 2:221/1.58@fidonet 291e37d8   
   REPLY: 2:280/464 69820dbf   
   PID: OpenXP/5.0.64 (Win32)   
   CHRS: ASCII 1   
   TZUTC: -0500   
   Hello Wilfred!   
      
   ** On Tuesday 03.02.26 - 15:54, you wrote to me:   
      
    AA>> Nothing about the formula is predictable.  Only I know it.  It's only   
    AA>> in my head.  And.. depending on the circumstances for pw changes by   
    AA>> some sites, even the tweeking follows a pseudo "rule".   
      
    WvV> How long are your passwords? Do they have pronouncable words/parts?   
      
   Length can vary, depending on the formula output for each "part".      
   Pronouncable words are a choice. Pronouncable or not doesn't really matter if     
   the whole sum of parts makes no "sense".   
      
      
    AA>> So.. as an example, a random phrase that is only meaningful to you,   
      
    WvV> When it's meaningful it's not random! ;-)   
      
   It's random in the sense that it can't be associated/findable with anything     
   else in print.   
      
      
    AA>> add some other uniqueness in some other way that only you know, and   
    AA>> you have a pw that no one could guess,   
      
    WvV> "No one" isn't the problem. It's the automated password guessers that   
    WvV> are your adversaries. And they can try thousands or probably milions of   
    WvV> passwords in a second, and do that in a smart way.   
      
   The automation doesn't matter. The front-ends for password entry would slow     
   down rapid attempts anyway.  No site would allow any of those millions of     
   passwords in one second. Login attempts are limited per minute or max out     
   after a handful of tries.   
      
      
    AA>> and it's something you can recover with only the technology of your   
    AA>> brain.   ;)   
      
    WvV> Can you give an example for a ficticious website (without revealing your   
    WvV> formula of course)?   
      
   Sure.   
      
   Think of it in 4 or 5 parts:   [A] [B] [C] [D] [E]   
      
   Part [A] would be something meaningful to you for the particular site/    
   service: eg. for FictitiousWebsite.com, think of "formula" for it,   
   say.. FW, or ficweb, or just use the first 3 or 6 consonants, or the vowels,     
   or the consonants for the first word, and vowels for the second word. The     
   possibilities to encode that are limited to the imagination, but just stick     
   to an encoding scheme that you like - and that will make it easy to remember     
   when you need it.   
      
   Part [B] could be a string of 4 to 8 numbers that are only meaningful to you,     
   and you can even append a encoded number to that based on the string of chars     
   you used for part [A].  How you encode it is up to you. eg. a simple ROT     
   function, some part of pi, or a combo of 4 numbers from one credit card and     
   the 4 numbers of another credit card [the latter credit card example is     
   something you can always look up if you can't remember that].   
      
   Part [C] could be reserved for one or more special characters that most     
   systems often require.  So, pick some special char or sequence of chars that     
   you like and that would make sense to you. You could even pick the special     
   char based on the string of chars you ended up for part [A], so that [C] is     
   always different from site to site.   
      
   Part [D] could be reserved for a couple of short silly words that can also be     
   processed to make them look less like obvious words. How you process them or     
   not is up to you.   
      
   Parts [A] [B] [C] [D] could be in any order you like.   
      
   Figure out something else for part [E] which could be another function of any     
   of the other parts.   
      
   As a whole, the result will be a pretty fine pw string that only you knew how     
   to construct, and can reconstruct when you need it.   
      
   --    
     ../|ug   
      
   --- OpenXP 5.0.64   
    * Origin: What do you call an excavated pyramid? Unencrypted. (2:221/1.58)   
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