Python: Passphrase Hashing for Increased Security

📅 July 21, 2020
Concerned that your generated passphrase cool.bait.build might be guessed by brute force password cracking means?  Then, hash it!

Passphrases based upon parts of speech (rabbits.burn.oily.paper) are easier to remember than something like %5gN&31+=?, but this might cause concern for those alarmed by password crackers attempting to try every word combination word in the dictionary.

Well, here is an added approach for you!

Just hash the passphrase using your favorite hash algorithm, and then use the hash as the passphrase. This way, you do not need to memorize the hash, only the passphrase that generates it.

Python: Create Passphrases Based on Parts of Speech

📅 July 15, 2020
What? You can’t remember e7$t=ehQr8+ as your password?

The repeated password advice given over the years tends to encourage lazy password choices that end up being tricky for people to remember but easy for computers to crack.

As an example, the password above might be considered secure, but it is not convenient. As a result, people will shy away from it and pick something, like Pa$$w0rd123, that they think is secure.

Techniques such as Diceware attempt to resolve this situation and do a good job of creating passphrases, but the result might be a random selection of words that make little sense and be tricky to remember.

What if we tried creating passphrases that resemble English sentences by assembling words based upon parts of speech?

Here is a Python script that attempts to make resulting passphrases easier to remember by combining nouns, verbs, and adjectives in a more memorable way. We even use a pattern system to give us flexibility in the formation of phrases.

Python: Generate Random Sequence from Weighted Values

📅 July 14, 2020
It’s a battle between two factions. The enemy attacks! Whew! That was close! You barely survived the onslaught of enemy attacks against your fortress in the post-apocalyptic fantasy world of What-Cha-Ma-Call-It. You are mankind’s last hope. Will you survive another round?

After replenishing your supplies, the enemy attacks again! However, it uses the same attack pattern, making this a predictable battle. You win, but it was rather lackluster.

The enemy attacks a third time using the same strategy. Yawn. This is getting boring. You barely needed to think in order to survive. Is there any way to make the enemy choose more random events to seem more intelligent and unpredictable?

Python 3 provides a handy function, called choices(), that selects items from a list at random based upon weighted values. We can use this function to write a Python script for our game to increases the enemy strategy and fun.

Linux Mint 20

📅 July 13, 2020
Linux Mint 20 was released a few weeks ago, and, after installing and exploring its features, I can say that version 20 is another fine release in the series and one of the best Linux distributions available for everyday usage.

Here are a few of my thoughts.