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Pictorial Passwords

Stone Rhino writes: "No longer do you need to remember passwords. Now, thanks to graduate students at Berkeley you merely need to pick out the right pieces of abstract art. There is a story on it at the New York Times. However, there is a problem with it that I see: 5 images from a set of 25 means 53,130 potential combinations. This would be much easier to crack by brute force than a standard alphanumeric password with its billions of possibilities and millions of likely choices." Maybe you have to get the sequence of images correct? If so there are some six million combinations, still weaker than a optimum password but probably stronger than the passwords most people choose (usually their significant other's name). There's another article on passwords in that same NYT edition.

4 of 331 comments (clear)

  1. login required by virtual_mps · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    These links to stories that can't be read are rather annoying. Isn't there enough news that can be read without an obnoxious registration procedure? (For the record, yes I have registered a couple of times. And forgotten the password. It just ain't worth doing again. I still haven't managed to kill the emails I get from the last registration.)

  2. I like it ! BOOBS everywhere by CDWert · · Score: 1, Offtopic

    I agree with the article poster on combination issues, sooooooo, what about a drawing addition, it shows you a piece of abstract art and you draw (ala Graffiti style) your interpretation......

    Oh wait , thats no good, all the guys will be drawing boobs and all the girls cats......Hmm Ok weve got our combinations down to 2, what not that is reached this level of sophistication and security MS will buy the patent for sure......

    Seriouly keep working on it guys it could be cool.

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    Sig went tro...aahemmm.....fishing........
  3. (o o) by Slashdolt · · Score: 1, Offtopic

    We can already do boobs, ya boob.

  4. Re:From a Tech Support view by sulli · · Score: 0, Offtopic

    ... which is why the OSDN toolbar remains in common use, despite slashdot users' grousing about it!

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    sulli
    RTFJ.