Regardless of the length, passwords are obsolete, at least when used in single factor systems. The biggest problem with authentication is identity assurance, an

Regardless of the length, passwords are obsolete, at least when used in single factor systems. The biggest problem with authentication is identity assurance, an attribute that passwords simply don't possess. Better and more factors are necessary to provide true security in the future, and we're simply making due with passwords in the meanwhile. Phishing and Firesheep are ready examples of the weakness of passwords, and they're not even the easiest methods of compromise available. Passwords have a use, but so do other forms of security-by-obscurity, a category that passwords will inevitably fall into.