I imagine that there are many ways to create secret passwords, but
what good are they if someone is going to persist in trying to break
them and into your system. At some point of sophistication, it becomes
more feasible to stop using the screen for anything which you do not
want the whole world to read. I will give you an example. At one time,
I decided to put a password on my system so that it could not be
started in my absence, I used a standard US government assembler
encoding. Well, no sooner had I installed the password than I had a
telephone call from someone telling me the password. I had taken the
precaution of closing my blinds and door so that there would be no
passersby. The same thing has happened from time to time with system
passwords which I have seldom used although I know them. It seems to
be a waste of time since no real protection is available. I just keep
a careful record of all of the changes that occur so that when someone
comes up with a solution or wants to look for one they will have a
meticulous record of all the occurrences of this type which have
occurred. Sometimes, this list is very helpful in that respect because
someone else will ask a similar question and I will recognize the
answer as a solution to a problem which I had encountered. -- Paul.
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Dr. Paul S. di Virgilio,  University of Toronto  [log in to unmask]