From: IN%"[email-masked]" "I spent 4 years prostrate to the higher mind..." 18-NOV-1989 12:09:18.23
To: [email-masked]

Received: from JNET-DAEMON by FHCRCVAX.BITNET; Sat, 18 Nov 89 12:08 PST
Received: From ARIZMIS(JMS) by FHCRCVAX with Jnet id 7210 for JOE@FHCRCVAX;
 Sat, 18 Nov 89 12:08 PST
Date: Sat, 18 Nov 89 13:03 MST
From: "I spent 4 years prostrate to the higher mind..." <[email-masked]>
Subject: password guesser
To: [email-masked]
Original_To:  JNET%"joe@fhcrcvax"

Joe:
 
Here are some possible changes you may want to put in your
password guesser:
 
1. move the test for words to AFTER the test to see if the password
is the same as the username,last name,first name.  The reason here
is pretty obvious: the most likely password is going to be the
username, and so testing for that first is a real time winner.
(easy to do)

2. in the same vein, consider testing for words which have a length
greater than or equal to the MINPWDLEN for that username.
(a pain, but makes the whole thing run a lot faster)

3.  check all the username, last name, first name spelled BACKWARDS
as well as forwards.

Best wishes, and thanks for contributing the software !
 
jms
 
Joel M Snyder, The Mosaic Group, 627 E Speedway, 85705  Phone: 602.626.8680
(University of Arizona, Dep't of MIS, Eller Graduate School of Management)
BITNET: jms@arizmis  Internet: [email-masked]  SPAN: 47541::uamis::jms
"Don't get it right, just get it written."  - James Grover Thurber
 

From:	IN%"[email-masked]" 22-NOV-1989 13:57:14.65
To:	[email-masked]
CC:	
Subj:	Re: --More-- on VMS PASSWORD CHECKER

Date: 21 Nov 89 20:45:52 GMT
From: [email-masked]
Subject: Re: --More-- on VMS PASSWORD CHECKER
Sender: [email-masked]
To: [email-masked]
Organization: The Portal System (TM)

A while back, someone posted a list of the passwords file that
Morris (I forget the first name) used to crack remote password
files when he created the notorious Internet Worm. Besides cracking
the list using the usual Firstname-Lastname combinations, Morris
allegedly used the following file of "popular" passwords. I doubt the
veracity of the list, actually, because it doesn't include any variations
on "SEX", the all-time most popular password :-), but here it is
anyway:
aaa academia aerobics airplane albany albatross albert alex alexander
algebra aliases alphabet ama amorphous analog anchor andromache animals
answer anthropogenic anvils anything aria ariadne arrow arthur athena
atmosphere aztecs azure bacchus bailey banana bananas bandit banks
barber baritone bass bassoon batman beater beauty beethoven beloved
benz beowulf berkeley berliner beryl beverly bicameral bob brenda brian
bridget broadway bumbling burgess campanile cantor cardinal carmen
carolina caroline cascades castle cat cayuga celtics cerulean change
charles charming charon chester cigar classic clusters coffee coke
collins commrades computer condo cookie cooper cornelius couscous
creation creosote cretin daemon dancer daniel danny dave december defoe
deluge desperate develop dieter digital discovery disney dog drought
duncan eager easier edges edinburgh edwin edwina egghead eiderdown
eileen einstein elephant elizabeth ellen emerald engine engineer
enterprise enzyme ersatz establish estate euclid evelyn extension
fairway felicia fender fermat fidelity finite fishers flakes float
flower flowers foolproof football foresight format forsythe fourier
fred friend frighten fun fungible gabriel gardner garfield gauss george
gertrude ginger glacier gnu golfer gorgeous gorges gosling gouge graham
gryphon guest guitar gumption guntis hacker hamlet handily happening
harmony harold harvey hebrides heinlein hello help herbert hiawatha
hibernia honey horse horus hutchins imbroglio imperial include ingres
inna innocuous irishman isis japan jessica jester jixian johnny joseph
joshua judith juggle julia kathleen kermit kernel kirkland knight ladle
lambda lamination larkin larry lazarus lebesgue lee leland leroy lewis
light lisa louis lynne macintosh mack maggot magic malcolm mark markus
marty marvin master maurice mellon merlin mets michael michelle mike
minimum minsky moguls moose morley mozart nancy napoleon nepenthe ness
network newton next noxious nutrition nyquist oceanography ocelot
olivetti olivia oracle orca orwell osiris outlaw oxford pacific
painless pakistan pam papers password patricia penguin peoria percolate
persimmon persona pete peter philip phoenix pierre pizza plover
plymouth polynomial pondering pork poster praise precious prelude
prince princeton protect protozoa pumpkin puneet puppet rabbit
rachmaninoff rainbow raindrop raleigh random rascal really rebecca
remote rick ripple robotics rochester rolex romano ronald rosebud
rosemary roses ruben rules ruth sal saxon scamper scheme scott scotty
secret sensor serenity sharks sharon sheffield sheldon shiva shivers
shuttle signature simon simple singer single smile smiles smooch
smother snatch snoopy soap socrates sossina sparrows spit spring
springer squires strangle stratford stuttgart subway success summer
super superstage support supported surfer suzanne swearer symmetry
tangerine tape target tarragon taylor telephone temptation thailand
tiger toggle tomato topography tortoise toyota trails trivial trombone
tubas tuttle umesh unhappy unicorn unknown urchin utility vasant
vertigo vicky village virginia warren water weenie whatnot whiting
whitney will william williamsburg willie winston wisconsin wizard
wombat woodwind wormwood yacov yang yellowstone yosemite zap zimmerman