Most people have a love-hate relationship with passwords. On one hand, passwords provide the security that facilitated many conveniences of modern life. Conversely there are just too many passwords to remember.

First, passwords need to be random. Given the range of possibilities (solution space), each possibility must have equal chance as the others. Given humans many years of conditioning (learning?) – this is anything but an impossibility.

Second the solution space must be big enough to deter brute force attacks. A brute force attack is trying out each possibility at a time under all the possibilities are exhausted. So, using dates for a 6-digit password is not a good idea – it reduces the solution space by 88%. Currently, a solution space of 2^256 (256 bits or 78-digits) is enough. This is roughly the number of atoms in this universe. Even with a supercomputer that can try out a trillion passwords each second, our sun will probably burn out first before the correct password can be found! You can refer to our earlier works “A Gentle Introduction to Cryptography”.

Third, a secure system must not leave traces of the password being used.

This is where the computer can help. If it has a secure password system, then this password can be used to unlock all other passwords. These other passwords can be randomly generated, since there is no need to remember them. These are the design objectives of our Seecrets Delivery Services Password Manager.

Important Tips

1. Never trust any password system that requires keyboard entry. There are just too many key loggers around. Key loggers or keystroke recorders are commonly used by companies to record all e-activities by their employees.
2. Be wary of biometric systems. Biometric systems shift the risk to the individual. Remember the Mercedes owner who lost his index finger and vehicle to car thieves. Also, biometric information once cloned has devastating outcomes for that unlucky individual. The thieves can claim to be him or her.
3. When preparing your personal password, remember to be illogical, irrational, crazy, zany and unpredictable. This is one of the few  human activities that you will not be penalized for being “not human”

How to choose a good super-password?

Without a strong password, your security is as good as no security.

1. Choose about 10 words that you can commit to memory especially words or sentences that appear as nonsense.
2. Translate some of these words into foreign languages for example Sanskrit, Esperanto, Navajo, Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Hawaiian, Maori, Latin, German, Spanish and others. The web has enough facilities to help you on these. For example, Chinese use many words that begin with X or Z, something that is lacking in English.
3. Misspell each word. For some, you omit a character. For others you add a character. Or interchange some characters. Use your imagination. The more "absurd" your list of words are, the better is the strength.
4. For inspiration, try translating some of your favorite short messages into a foreign language, and then retranslate it from the translated version. We guarantee it will be hilarious.
5. This password must NEVER be repeated anywhere else.
6. Take time to do this task, days if necessary. We took years to develop this system. If you do not value your own e-security and e-privacy, nobody will.

Who says that crypto is dull and uninteresting? If you enjoyed this little exercise, you will find that crypto can be funky, funny and cooool!

Seecrets Delivery Services Password Manager

Our system does not require much explanation. It simply reduces a character to a digit. If you only use 60-digits, the system will always “fill-up” with fake mouse-clicks. This function is useful to deter eavesdroppers using Tempest-technologies, that is, monitoring your screen from a secret location hundreds of feet away.

The other noteworthy feature is that all entries are done by mouse-clicks. No keyboard entry is required. Use the guidelines above to devise your own unique password. It should be about 60 to 77 characters long (including spaces). This password is not stored anywhere on your computer. If you forget it, we cannot recover it for you.

It may appear strange that people can remember words (alphabets) better than numbers. Our design achieves this feat by using a simple correspondence between numbers and alphabets, as shown in the diagram above.

If you have produced a 77-char (60 to 77 is good enough) sequence of absurd characters that only you alone can remember, congratulations – you have found the equivalent of a particular atom in the whole universe. This equals a 256-bits random key for AES. As far as we know, no government can find your key using brute-force.

Lest you become smug about your security being impossible to break, consider the possibility when someone points a loaded gun to your head - you, like anyone, will submit your password. Welcome, to the real world of security!