[Fwd: Re: Co-op Bank and Verified by Visa]

[Peter Tomlinson]

Roland Perry wrote:
> In article <4A3D2BB5.8080402 at ernest.net>, Nicholas Bohm 
> <nbohm at ernest.net> writes
>> I can memorise complex passwords that have to be entered in full, or use
>> an encrypted vault; but passwords where I may have to enter the 1st, 4th
>> and 7th characters have to be simple enough to count along while
>> remembering them, or have to be written down where I can number the
>> characters, all of which makes for poor conventional security.
>
> I was asked recently for the "5th, 6th & 7th" characters of a 
> password. If they'd said "the last three" (which it was) it would have 
> avoided lots of counting on my fingers while reciting it in my head, 
> as I worked out what they were.
That's a computer program for you: random numbers in to select the bits, 
garbage out.