global password strategies

[William_J_G Overington]

Tex wrote:


> There are many problems that having a standard would resolve.


Yes.


>  Simply stating an incomplete idea and then expecting Unicode 
> Consortium or any other standards body to implement it is an arrogant 
> and unreasonable proposition.


Well, I never wrote that I expected anything.


I wrote "So I am hoping ...", I simply put forward what seems to me a 
good idea that could be very useful in some circumstances,


> To become a standard the idea has to have support from many 
> communities, and it has to be a fit for the organization’s 
> responsibilities.


If Unicode Inc. were to specify a specific choice of 64 emoji set out in 
an 8 by 8 array, then it would be a de facto standard which people could 
use or not use as they chose, with no concern that the specific layout 
were proprietary and that someone or some organization might come along 
later and request royalties for using that particular layout.


> It isn’t clear emoji are needed or optimal for this purpose, compared 
> to just using shapes (triangle up, triangle down, etc.) or for that 
> matter that any images are needed, since it could be select row3 
> column 4.


I am not suggesting emoji to the exclusion of other possibilities. For 
me, using emoji has the advantage that the pictures are mostly of 
everyday things, so someone would possibly or even probably know for 
each picture the word to describe the picture in the language that he or 
she uses.


> Ultimately, the password this generates does not need Unicode since 
> the output reduces to a series of  row and column pairs. (Which is why 
> this is just an interface.)


Well, I was not thinking of the output being a series of row and column 
pairs, I have, and am, thinking of the output being a sequence of 
Unicode characters, the 8 by 8 array of emoji being just as a way for an 
end user to enter a sequence of Unicode characters as if an end user 
enters a sequence of Unicode characters as a password in a text box. 
Indeed perhaps there could be a text box like display below the 8 by 8 
array and as the emoji are clicked the text box fills up, either with 
dots or an emoji display, depending whether the text box is in Hide mode 
or Show mode.


The 8 by 8 array method of password entry would just work in parallel 
with the conventional text box method of password entry.


It is sort of like how a built in keyboard on a laptop computer can work 
in parallel with an external keyboard.


> So if you think this should be a standard, establish the requirements 
> for password entry, show that the proposal satisfies the requirements, 
> find communities that agree and support the idea, and find a standards 
> body that will make it a standard.


Well, I opine that it could be helpful in some circumstances if a 
particular layout of 64 emoji in an 8 by 8 array so as to facilitate 
password entry in a manner not linked to any particular script or an 
particular language were to become published by Unicode Inc. as an app 
developer would have a list available to use if so desired and if 
various producers of apps were to use the same particular layout that 
that could be helpful to end users.


What I am suggesting is just a simple sort of gadget to metaphorically 
bolt on to an existing password entry system to give the existing method 
an extra way for an end user to set up a password and to enter a 
previously set up password.


> You have not acknowledged the requirements for password entry (see the 
> NIST document).


Well, I did to the extent in that I mentioned a minimum of eight 
characters in a password.


This method of entry would produce the possibility of 64 times 63 to the 
power of 7 possible passwords for eight character passwords alone. For 
longer passwords there would be many more possibilities.


I have put forward an idea that I opine could be very useful in some 
circumstances. I hope that it gets implemented. Although I could publish 
a particular suggested layout of 64 emoji in an 8 by 8 array myself, I 
consider that such a layout may never be taken up by app producers, yet 
if a suggested layout of 64 emoji in an 8 by 8 array were published by 
Unicode Inc. then it might well be taken up by many app producers and be 
of practical benefit to some end users.


William Overington


Monday 11 April 2022


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