Lesson plan
Diceware
"monogram" on an updated EFF cryptographic word list Diceware is a method for creating passphrases, passwords, and other cryptographic variables using ordinary dice as a hardware random number generator. For each word in the passphrase, five rolls of a six-sided die are required. The numbers from 1 to 6 that come up in the rolls are assembled as a five-digit number, e.g. 43146. That number is then used to look up a word in a cryptographic word list. In the original Diceware list 43146 corresponds to munch. Thus, by generating several words in sequence, a lengthy passphrase can be constructed randomly. A Diceware word list is any list of unique words, preferably ones the user will find easy to spell and to remember. The contents of the word list do not have to be protected or concealed in any way, as the security of a Diceware passphrase is in the number of words selected, and the number of words each selected word could be taken from. Lists have been compiled for over two dozen languages. The level of unpredictability of a Diceware passphrase can be easily calculated: each word adds 12.9 bits of entropy to the passphrase (that is, \log_2(6^5) bits). Originally, in 1995, Diceware creator Arnold Reinhold considered five words ( ) the minimal length needed by average users. However, in 2014 Reinhold started recommending that at least six words ( ) be used.…
Article summary
"monogram" on an updated EFF cryptographic word list Diceware is a method for creating passphrases, passwords, and other cryptographic variables using ordinary dice as a hardware random number generator. For each word in the passphrase, five rolls of a six-sided die are required. The numbers from 1 to 6 that come up in the rolls are assembled as a five-digit number, e.g. 43146. That number is then used to look up a word in a cryptographic word list. In the original Diceware list 43146 corresponds to munch. Thus, by generating several words in sequence, a lengthy passphrase can be constructed randomly. A Diceware word list is any list of unique words, preferably ones the user will find easy to spell and to remember. The contents of the word list do not have to be protected or concealed in any way, as the security of a Diceware passphrase is in the number of words selected, and the number of words each selected word could be taken from. Lists have been compiled for over two dozen languages. The level of unpredictability of a Diceware passphrase can be easily calculated: each word adds 12.9 bits of entropy to the passphrase (that is, \log_2(6^5) bits). Originally, in 1995, Diceware creator Arnold Reinhold considered five words ( ) the minimal length needed by average users. However, in 2014 Reinhold started recommending that at least six words ( ) be used.…
Key claims
- publication date: 2016 — source: Wikipedia · confidence 0.95
Discussion questions
- Summarise the article in your own words. Which single claim would you verify first, and why?
- The record states that the publication date is "2016". What evidence would count against this claim?
- Which claim in this article is most likely to be revised as the sources update? How would you check its current status?
- If two sources disagreed about one of these facts, what would you need in order to trust one over the other?
Bibliography
- Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=1376007704
Key claims and bibliography are generated from the same tracked claims and sources as the article page.