3 ms·
I should point out that multi-word passwords have at least one disadvantage: if you can figure out which letters were used and/or the password's length, and you
by codex 14y ago
I should point out that multi-word passwords have at least one disadvantage: if you can figure out which letters were used and/or the password's length, and you know the password is multi-word, then it becomes easier to derive what the password was.
So, for example, if you used a multi-word password on your ATM machine, and someone aimed an infrared camera at the machine after you left and retrieved the set of buttons that you pressed, the game would be over if your password were short--or at least much closer to being over if it were long.
Alternatively, an attacker could eavesdrop on your keyboard sounds and capture the timing of the clicks, thereby inferring candidate sets of letters. Or they could examine how much oil is on each key of your keyboard, or how much each key is worn, and adjust for the stats on the English language, etc.
Or, as in the ATM case, an agent could interrupt you right after you've entered your password on a false pretext ("Excuse me, I need help.") and surreptitiously take an in infrared photo of your keyboard. This is plausible in many semi-public scenarios (bank teller, etc.)
I think the saving grace here is that a sufficiently long password uses most letters in the English alphabet--but it is still prone to attack if you can at least get the relative ordering of some of the letters, or you know the password's length (by listening to the number of keyboard clicks, for example).