On Password Strength

arjen — Thu, 11 Aug 2011 00:38:17 +0000

XKCD (as usual) makes a very good point – this time about password strength, and I reckon it’s something app developers need to consider urgently. Geeks can debate the exact amount of entropy, but that’s not really the issue: insisting on mixed upper/lower and/or non-alpha and/or numerical components to a user password does not really improve security, and definitely makes life more difficult for users.

So basically, the functions that do a “is this a strong password” should seriously reconsider their approach, particularly if they’re used to have the app decide whether to accept the password as “good enough” at all.

Update: Jeff Preshing has written an xkcd password generator. Users probably should choose their own four words, but it’s a nice example and a similar method could be used by an app to give “password suggestions” that are still safe.

OSDC 2009 – call for papers reminder

arjen — Fri, 26 Jun 2009 02:13:03 +0000

The call for papers for OSDC 2009 is open until 30 June 2009; yes that’s only a few more days. Submit your abstract and do a talk at this fab conference!

This is a grassroots style conference designed by developers for developers. It covers Perl, Python, Ruby/Rails, PHP, Java/Grails and Open Source operating systems as well as some business aspects. If you’d like to cover something else as well that is Open Source themed, please feel free.

The Call for Papers can be found at: http://2009.osdc.com.au/call-for-papers
The important dates are:

Call for Papers Closes 30 June, 2009
Proposal acceptance 20 July, 2009
Accepted paper submissions 14 September, 2009
OSDC 2009 Main Conference! 25th to 27th November, 2009

OSDC 2009 will be held at the Bardon Conference Center in Brisbane this year. This is a fantastic venue a short drive from the Brisbane CBD, totally surrounded by lush greenery.

Open Query blog » ruby

On Password Strength

OSDC 2009 – call for papers reminder