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Comments: 2 +-   Child-suitable alternatives to passwords ? on Wednesday February 20 2008, @05:42PM

Submitted by on Wednesday February 20 2008, @05:42PM
security
An anonymous reader writes "Two month ago, near new year's eve, I donated my old PC to my little sister (7) — I had promised she would get her own computer as soon as she can read and write properly. I then proceeded to answer her questions about how it worked (as far as she inquired) and tried to let her make some choices when installing Debian (she can already use GNOME). As I explained password protection and encryption to her, I was pleasantly surprised when she insisted on protection measures being as strong as possible, so that no one else could screw with her computer — this probably stems from the fact that my younger brother has to endure strict parental control software that was installed on his machine without his consent.

The significant problem is that she cannot permanently memorize abstract passwords, even if they are her own creation (i talked to a teacher who assured me that this is common at her age). As non-abstract passwords are probably easily guessed by my parents and it was very frustrating for her not to be able to log into her own account repeatedly, we stopped.

What mechanism of identifying herself does the Slashdot crowd suggest ?"
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  • I'm pretty sure that when I was seven I knew my address and a couple others. If you don't know you're looking for one, addresses have all the key elements of a decently strong password: numbers and letters with a capital. I'm sure in this case it would be more than secure enough. It doesn't need to be a real address, I just think that learning it as one will probably help.
  • I am sure she has a pet name or phrase for someone in the family that they don't know. She can chain the words together; such as sillydaddy or sleepypuppy..and she can always add a numeral to that
To follow foolish precedents, and wink With both our eyes, is easier than to think. - William Cowper