[104710] in Cypherpunks

home	help	back	first	fref	pref	prev	next	nref	lref	last	post

Using a password as a private key.

daemon@ATHENA.MIT.EDU (RedRook)
Tue Oct 27 17:28:37 1998

Date: Tue, 27 Oct 1998 13:53:07 -0800 (PST)
From: RedRook <redrook@yahoo.com>
To: cypherpunks@toad.com
Reply-To: RedRook <redrook@yahoo.com>

&#130;&#130;&#130;&#130;Assymetic crypto systems such as
Diffie-Hellman, El-Gamel, and DSS, allow the private key to be a
randomly chosen number. &#130;But, as a cute hack, instead of using a
random number, for the private key, you could use a hash of the User
Name, and a password. 

Doing so allows the users to generate their private key on demand.
They don't have to store the private key, and if they want to work on
a another computer, they don't need to bring along a copy.&#130;
Has any one tried this? Is there existing software that does this? Any
comments on the security of such a scheme? &#130;
The only draw back that I can think of is the potential lack of
randomness in the key. If the user chooses a bad password, it would be
possible to brute force the public key.&#130;
Harv.&#130;&#130;RedRook@yahoo.com&#130;&#130;&#130;&#130;&#130;&#130;&#130;&#130;
_________________________________________________________
DO YOU YAHOO!?
Get your free @yahoo.com address at http://mail.yahoo.com

home	help	back	first	fref	pref	prev	next	nref	lref	last	post