Password length parameter

In telecommunication, a password length parameter is a basic parameter the value of which affects password strength against brute force attack and so is a contributor to computer security.

One use of the password length parameters is in the expression ${\displaystyle P=L\times R/S}$, where ${\displaystyle P}$ is the probability that a password can be guessed in its lifetime, ${\displaystyle L}$ is the maximum lifetime a password can be used to log into a system, ${\displaystyle R}$ is the number of guesses per unit of time, and ${\displaystyle S}$ is the number of unique algorithm-generated passwords (the 'password space').

The degree of password security is determined by the probability that a password can be guessed in its lifetime.

See also

• Key stretching
• Password cracking

References

 This article incorporates public domain material from the General Services Administration document: "Federal Standard 1037C".