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A: We recommend using a password manager/password generator, like "keepassx", to create and store long (>30 chars) random passwords. We also recommend using the web browsers' password storage, but it is mandatory to use a strong (see above) master password (Firefox: Preferences -> Security -> Change Master Password) when doing so! A: We recommend using a password manager/password generator, like "keepassx", to create and store long (>30 chars) random passwords. We also recommend using the built in web browser password storage, but it is mandatory to use a strong (see above) master password (Firefox: Preferences -> Security -> Change Master Password) when doing so!

How to choose a good password

A password should be 10 characters or longer. A practical approach for choosing a new passwords is to

 ssh login.coli.uni-saarland.de
 apg -a0 -MNLC -t -m10 -x10

Passwords generated this way will take on average approximately 64 years to be broken by a 8xTitan-X GPU cluster node.

Linux / MacOS

To change your password please log in with SecureShell (ssh) to 'login.coli.uni-saarland.de' and enter the command "passwd".

 ssh login.coli.uni-saarland.de
 passwd

Windows

Press CTRL-Alt-Del and select "Change Password". Windows passwords are independent from Linux / MacOS / Mail passwords.

Email / Web Server

Your email password is the same as your Linux / MacOS password.

More information on passwords

A password should be

  • kept secret
  • changed on a regular basis
  • not be easy to guess by others (like your Matrikelnummer or 'klausi1' for instance)
  • new, do not reuse your old password(s)!

Diceware

A very good way to create hard to guess, yet easy to remember passwords (or passphrases) is to employ the "diceware" method using real world, physical dice. In short

  • roll a dice 5 times,
  • look up the word which corresponds to the result using an existing list of words,
  • repeat until you have 6 words.
  • Your 30 dice rolls yielded ~77 bits of entropy which is now encoded in the 6 words you chose.

A more detailled description including word lists for many languages can be found here:

http://world.std.com/~reinhold/diceware.html

Mini FAQ

Q: If I use more than 10 characters I am more secure, right?
A: No, not really. Currently we consider a 10 random character password "safe", but feel free to use longer passwords. Please consider that there are other ways to attack your account besides a brute force password attack. Be aware of the fact that there is no perfect security.
https://xkcd.com/538

Q: How about passwords I use on the Internet with my web browser?
A: We recommend using a password manager/password generator, like "keepassx", to create and store long (>30 chars) random passwords. We also recommend using the built in web browser password storage, but it is mandatory to use a strong (see above) master password (Firefox: Preferences -> Security -> Change Master Password) when doing so!

public: Password (last edited 2023-03-14 09:55:42 by superuser)