Passphrase

1 definition found

From The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (27 SEP 03) [foldoc]:

  passphrase
       
           A string of words and characters that you
          type in to authenticate yourself.  Passphrases differ from
          passwords only in length.  Passwords are usually short - six
          to ten characters.  Passphrases are usually much longer - up


          to 100 characters or more.  Their greater length makes
          passphrases more secure.  Modern passphrases were invented by
          Sigmund N. Porter in 1982.
       
          Phil Zimmermann's popular encryption program {PGP}, for
          example, requires you to make up a passphrase that you then
          must enter whenever you sign or decrypt messages.
       
          {(http://world.std.com/~reinhold/diceware.page.html)}.
       
          (1996-12-21)