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Of course not. In a normal Unix password, adding spaces to the password search space increases the search space, so it necessarily makes the search harder.

Depends on the space of ideas that are leading to your passwords. If the reason you're adding spaces is to separate an n-character word from the dictionary from a 7-n character word from the dictionary, this reduces the search space for a cracker considerably. At least pick random punctuation instead.

Huh? I don't follow your reasoning. If you use two random words, the search space for a dictionary attack with an N word dictionary is N^2. That's true whether you include a space or leave it out. If you use "random punctuation" and the punctuation character is unknown, you add perhaps a factor 20, which is so much smaller than N that it isn't worth arguing about. Two-word passphrases are pretty good, and if you feel uncomfortable with an N^2 work factor, use three words to get N^3. That's a much bigger win than talking about random punctuation characters. paul !----------------------------------------------------------------------- ! Paul Koning, NI1D, C-24183 ! 3Com Corporation, 1-3A, 118 Turnpike Road, Southborough MA 01772 USA ! phone: +1 508 229 1695, fax: +1 508 490 5873 ! email: paul_koning@isd.3com.com or paul_koning@3mail.3com.com ! Pgp: 27 81 A9 73 A6 0B B3 BE 18 A3 BF DD 1A 59 51 75 !----------------------------------------------------------------------- ! "Be wary of strong drink. It can make you shoot at tax collectors ! -- and miss!" ! -- Robert A. Heinlein, "The Notebooks of Lazarus Long" ! in "Time Enough for Love"