• The Author – Bart Busschots

  

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      • HSXKPasswd – A Secure Memorable Password Generator

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This is the second part of a two-part post – read part 1 here.

In part 1 we learned how to use the command line too hsxkpasswd to generate passwords, and how to use various flags to specify custom password generation configurations, and word sources. In this second part we’ll look at how to save these customisations for future use with .hsxkpasswdrc files.

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Since version 3.5, the Crypt::HSXKPasswd password generating perl module ships with a command line interface to the password generator called hsxkpasswd. This provides a way for non-Perl programers to access the vast majority of the module’s functionality.

The easiest way to install the module, and it’s accompanying terminal command is via CPAN:

sudo cpan Crypt::HSXKPasswd

Once the module is installed, you’ll have access to the hsxkpasswd terminal command.

Getting started is simple, run the command with no arguments at all and it will generate one password using the default settings:

bart-iMac2013:~ bart$ hsxkpasswd
@@26.MEASURE.below.LIFT.95@@
bart-iMac2013:~ bart$

If you want more passwords, pass a number as an argument, and you’ll get that many passwords:

bart-iMac2013:~ bart$ hsxkpasswd 10
~~08!hole!VOWEL!then!45~~
$$49^monday^YELLOW^remember^22$$
//69-express-MONDAY-edge-54//
--42~KITCHEN~save~COLD~40--
==51%REPLY%even%AUGUST%28==
%%63&list&INSIDE&train&58%%
^^19!spain!CONGO!spain!01^^
::30@SMILED@from@PERIOD@90::
&&05%decimal%THREE%remember%80&&
..47^ROAD^dress^BERLIN^11..
bart-iMac2013:~ bart$

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The latest stable release of both the Crypt::HSXKPasswd perl module, and the hsxkpassd terminal command are now available through CPAN: http://search.cpan.org/perldoc?Crypt%3A%3AHSXKPasswd

The library and terminal command are bundled together, and can be installed onto Unix/Linux/Mac OS X computers in the standard CPAN way:

sudo cpan Crypt::HSXKPasswd

When this install finishes, both the terminal command and perl module will be available for use on the system, along with the documentation for both:

man hsxkpasswd
perldoc Crypt::HSXKPasswd

Even though I’ve put a lot of time an effort into creating these tools, I’ve chosen to released them entirely free of charge, and with a very liberal open-source license (BSD). If you find either the terminal command or Perl module useful, please consider making a donation below to help cover my time and costs.

If you find a bug, would like to suggest a change or improvement, or would like to contribute code to the project, please use the project’s GitHub page.

The letters JSON stand for JavaScript Object Notation, but that doesn’t really help you understand what it is, and what it’s for. JSON may have it’s origins in JavaScript, but it’s moved on from there. JSON has become a very popular human-readable plain-text format for sending structured data between applications.

In short, JS is a way of representing data that both computers and humans can read and understand. Think of it as XML’s younger better looking cousin 🙂

Note that this article is intended to be a JSON primer, not an exhaustive description of the format.

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Firstly, thanks to everyone who runs beta versions of Crypt::HSXKPasswd – every bug you find makes the software that little bit better!

However, now that the software is in CPAN, many of you may well want to move away from the stand-alone beta releases, and start getting the module directly from CPAN. Before you install the module from CPAN, you should remove the beta from your system. You can do that in two easy steps:

1. Install pm-uninstall from CPAN: sudo cpan App::pmuninstall
2. Use pm-uninstall to remove the beta version of Crypt::HSXKPasswd: sudo pm-uninstall Crypt::HSXKPasswd

Another week, another beta release of Crypt::HSXKPasswd. The fact that the betas are now coming quick and fast is indeed a sign that this code is getting very close to ready for a full release.

This latest series of changes came about because when I started work on a tutorial for using the command line app I realised some changes were needed to give a better user experience.

The headline changes are that you can now specify a dictionary file rather than a dictionary package name if you prefer, you can now specify arguments for the dictionary and RNG packages, and the file format for hsxkpasswdrc files has been updated to match these changes.

Finally, I’m still looking for help in the following areas:

• Native German, French, Italian, Spanish, Dutch, and Portuguese speakers to sanitise the dictionary files for those languages, leaving only a few thousand common words – these dictionary files are simply too big at the moment, and they must be full of really obscure words to be this large!
• People who are good at technical writing to help me give the documentation some spit and polish. I think all the relevant information is there, and I have run it all though a spell checker, but it could definitely do with some TLC from a copy editor!

Oh, and finally finally, if you find this module useful, please consider donating with the button below – I have literally put hundreds of hours into this code in the last few months, and given it all away for free.

*Download Beta 4 of Crypt::HSXKPasswd via GitHub*

I’ve just released what I hope will be the last beta release before the first stable release of Crypt::HSXKPasswd. This release has some bug fixes, but is mostly focused on improvements, especially to the new command line interface.

Initially I had planned to make the previous beta the last one before the first stable release, but then I realised that the command line interface really does need support for a configuration file before it’s ready for prime-time, so this beta is focused around the addition of what I am calling hsxkpasswdrc files.

hsxkpasswdrc files allow custom presets to be stored for re-use, and for defaults to be set for many of the command line options, making it much easier to customise the command line interface’s behaviour.

By default the command line interface now looks for a hsxkpasswdrc file at ~/.hsxkpasswdrc. You can specify a different path with the new --rcfile option, and you can use the new --test-rcfile option to help you debug your hsxkpasswdrc files.

If you have an interest in this module, please install the beta and report any problems you find by opening issues on the project’s GitHub page. Or better still if you’re a developer, fixing the bug and sending me a pull request 🙂

Finally, I’m still looking for help in the following areas:

• Native German, French, Italian, Spanish, Dutch, and Portuguese speakers to sanitise the dictionary files for those languages, leaving only a few thousand common words – these dictionary files are simply too big at the moment, and they must be full of really obscure words to be this large!
• People who are good at technical writing to help me give the documentation some spit and polish. I think all the relevant information is there, and I have run it all though a spell checker, but it could definitely do with some TLC from a copy editor!

Oh, and finally finally, if you find this module useful, please consider donating with the button below – I have literally put hundreds of hours into this code in the last few months, and given it all away for free.

*Download Beta 3 of Crypt::HSXKPasswd via GitHub*

This post is part 35 of 39 in the series Taming the Terminal

The previous instalment we introduced the HTTP protocol. In this instalment we’ll look at three terminal commands which make use of the HTTP protocol.

We’ll start by browsing from the terminal, and then move on to a pair of very similar commands for making HTTP requests from the terminal. These two commands can do many things, but we’ll focus on two specific use-cases, downloading files, and viewing HTTP headers.

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Last night I released what I hope will be the last beta release Crypt::HSXKPasswd before the first release to CPAN. You can download it from the project’s GitHub page (reminder, you can get installation instructions for the beta releases here).

The head-line change is the addition of a bundled command line app, bringing all the power of Crypt::HSXKPasswd to the terminal, shell scripts, and indeed programs and scripts written in any language with the ability to shell out.

In terms of lines of code the biggest change is a complete re-write of all data validation code. The project now contains a custom type library which exactly defines what it means to be a word, letter, symbol, symbol alphabet etc.. This has made the code much more robust, and has make it a lot easier to write consistent documentation. The type library is written using Type::Tiny, and all the custom type definitions contain customised validation error message functions to give users much more helpful feedback.

With the help of Allison Sheridan from the NosillaCast Mac Podcast, the warnings and error messages issued by the module have also become a lot more human-friendly.

The test suite has also been greatly expanded, making it easier to find and fix bugs going forward.

If you have an interest in this module, please install the beta and report any problems you find by opening issues on the project’s GitHub page. Or better still if you’re a developer, fixing the bug and sending me a pull request 🙂

Finally, I’m looking for help in the following areas:

• Native German, French, Italian, Spanish, Dutch, and Portuguese speakers to sanitise the dictionary files for those languages, leaving only a few thousand common words – these dictionary files are simply too big at the moment, and they must be full of really obscure words to be this large!
• People who are good at technical writing to help me give the documentation some spit and polish. I think all the relevant information is there, and I have run it all though a spell checker, but it could definitely do with some TLC from a copy editor!

Oh, and finally finally, if you find this module useful, please consider donating with the button below – I have literally put hundreds of hours into this code in the last few months, and given it all away for free.

*Download Beta 2 of Crypt::HSXKPasswd via GitHub*

This is a quick-start guide to using the free and open source Crypt::HSXKPasswd Perl module for generating secure but memorable passwords.

As I write this post the module is not on CPAN yet, and still in beta form. The module can be downloaded from the project’s GitHub page.

This article assumes you have the module installed – you’ll find installation instructions here.

Before we get stuck into some sample code, let’s first summarise the module’s philosophy.

The module is built around the idea of using common words as a kind of lattice around which to build passwords that are long, have a wide coverage of characters, and yet are still memorable. An ideal HSXKPasswd password will contain a mix of upper and lower case letters, some digits, and some symbols.

The module starts building a password by randomly closing a given number of words from a given dictionary. There can then be an optional number of digits added as pseudo words to the front and/or the back of the initial list of words. Next, a symbol can be used to separate the words, and finally a symbol can be used to pad the front and/or back of the password.

Think of it like this:

correct HORSE BATTERY staple
23 correct HORSE BATTERY staple 45
23*correct*HORSE*BATTERY*staple*45
--23*correct*HORSE*BATTERY*staple*45--

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