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Everything about Password

Text used for user authentication to prove identity

A password, sometimes called a passcode, is secret data, typically a string of characters, usually used to confirm a user's identity. Traditionally, passwords were expected to be memorized, but the large number of password-protected services that a typical individual accesses can make memorization of unique passwords for each service impractical. Using the terminology of the NIST Digital Identity Guidelines, the secret is held by a party called the claimant while the party verifying the identity of the claimant is called the verifier. When the claimant successfully demonstrates knowledge of the password to the verifier through an established authentication protocol, the verifier can infer the claimant's identity. Wikipedia →

🧭 Start here: a 6-step reading path

  1. Read the overview: PasswordA 5-minute orientation
  2. Skim a recent paper: Secure Password-Protected Encryption Key for Deduplicated Cloud Storage SystemsInfluential work since 2022
  3. Pick up a classic book: Validating the correctness of hardware implementations of the NBS data encryption standardThe most-reprinted book on the subject
  4. Read the landmark paper: Password authentication with insecure communicationCited 2,016 times
  5. Go sideways: Key derivation functionA closely related topic
  6. Go sideways: Password crackingA closely related topic

📖 Definitions

Noun A word relayed to a person to gain admittance to a place or to gain access to information.

Noun A string of characters used to log in to a computer or network, to access a level in a video game, and so on; archetypally a word but nowadays often an alphanumeric string or a phrase.

Verb To protect with a password.

🗂️ The subject at a glance

  1. History
  2. Choosing a secure and memorable password
  3. Alternatives to memorization
  4. Factors in the security of a password system
  5. Password rules
  6. Password cracking
  7. Alternatives to passwords for authentication
  8. Obsolescence

🏆 Landmark papers (most cited)

🆕 Influential since 2022

📚 Books worth reading

Ranked by number of editions on Open Library, a rough measure of how lasting a book is.

🔗 Related topics