password expiration policy (was Re: UNIX V7)

[Warren Wolfe]

Fred Cisin wrote:
> Be careful, Dan.
> There is a subtle, but significant difference between somebody not knowing
> what they are talking about V talking about a different subject.
>   

Indeed.  <chuckling>


> If you figure out a better way to factor large numbers into their prime
> factors, send a credible description to the personnel department at the
> NSA, and they will send a black helicopter to pick you up.  Actually, you
> don't even need to contact them, just talk about it on a phone line or
> email that passes between Washington and Baltimore.
>   

Hey, you don't even need to do that.  I was hanging around the computer 
building in college, and gave a whoop of triumph when I discovered that 
the encryption method I had been developing actually did provide 
(mathematically proven) unbreakable code.  Within 24 hours, I was 
talking to a couple gentlemen from an unnamed security agency, who 
advised me to avoid publishing my work.  I told them that before I'd 
consign my work to the trashcan, I'd need a good reason.  They provided one.


Warren