AmicitasSep 26, 2024

NIST proposes barring some of the most nonsensical password rules

https://lemmy.world/post/20190319

NIST proposes barring some of the most nonsensical password rules - Lemmy.World

Here is the text of the NIST sp800-63b [https://pages.nist.gov/800-63-4/sp800-63b.html] Digital Identity Guidelines.

Show threadLvxferre [he/him]Sep 26, 2024

Reworded rules for clarity:

  • Min required length must be 8 chars (obligatory), but it should be 15 chars (recommended).
  • Max length should allow at least 64 chars.
  • You should accept all ASCII plus space.
  • You should accept Unicode; if doing so, you must count each code as one char.
  • Don’t demand composition rules (e.g. “u’re password requires a comma! lol lmao haha” tier idiocy)
  • Don’t bug users to change passwords periodically. Only do it if there’s evidence of compromise.
  • Don’t store password hints that others can guess.
  • Don’t prompt the user to use knowledge-based authentication.
  • Don’t truncate passwords for verification.

    • I was expecting idiotic rules screaming “bureaucratic muppets don’t know what they’re legislating on”, but instead what I’m seeing is surprisingly sane and sensible.

    Show threadtastysnacksSep 26, 2024
    What kind of barbarian puts a space in their password?
    Show threadportiforniaSep 26, 2024

    I’m with you, despite seeing lemmings downvote the heck out of your comment 😢

    The reason, and specifically for whitespace at the beginning or end of a password, is that a lot of users copy-paste their passwords into the form, and for various reasons, whitespace can get pasted in, causing an invalid match. No bueno.

    Source: I’m a web developer who has seen this enough times that we had to implement a whitespace-trim validation for both setting & entering passwords.

    Show threadorclev
    Trimming whitespace from the start and end of a password is fine but you absolutely should not remove whitespace from the middle of a password.
    Sep 26, 2024 at 2:49pmWeb