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.
-- Frank Dean - 07 Sep 2009