Password Generation

Password Generation

Tools

With sophisticated password cracking tools being freely available, a strong passwords is a must.

The following tools (included in the Debian 5.0 (Lenny) distribution) can be used to create strong passwords:

makepasswd ftp://ftp.linpeople.org/pub/People/lilo/source/makepasswd-1.07.tar.gz - (Link broken 07 Sep 2009)
pwgen http://sourceforge.net/projects/pwgen/
apg http://www.adel.nursat.kz/apg/

I particularly like apg for creating passwords to be memorised, as it's passwords are phonetically pronounceable. E.g. The following command creates passwords with a minimum length between 8 and 10 (-m 8 -x 10). The mode (-M nC) specifies that numeric symbols may be included and a capital letter must be included. The 't' option specifies that the pronunciation should be printed.

   $  apg -m 8 -x 10 -M nC -t
WyshworfOm (Wy-shworf-Om)
WucavDuOft (Wuc-av-Du-Oft)
LegvootAim (Leg-voot-Aim)
etbytshEj0 (et-bytsh-Ej-ZERO)
votNivOm (vot-Niv-Om)
bydyoksO (byd-yoks-O)

The others are handy for creating passwords to be used within programs etc.

However, there are weaknesses in generating passwords. See Wikipedia - Random password generator for more information and referenced documents, PDF - A New Attack on Random Pronounceable Password Generators, PDF - Correct horse battery staple: Exploring the usability of system-assigned passphrases.

Diceware

Other Phonetic Password Generators

JavaScript

See https://www.npmjs.com/package/markov-words for a JavaScript package which Generates pronounceable random words via Markov chains.

Python

A Python implementation producing words that 'sound' like Japanese:

09 Feb 2016

-- Frank Dean - 07 Sep 2009

Resources

keeweb - Free cross-platform password manager compatible with KeePass

Related Topics: OneTimePasswords