Alpha3 was hard won, we’re up to about 2,o00 lines of C++ code now. Methodology was reviewed and process confirmed, the HMAC-512 key was evaluated and the augmented RFID keys that will sell with the Cipherpod units reviewed and hardened. Scan speed was increased and RFID card compatibility was reviewed so that customers can use pretty much any RFID card they want and the password generated is still very tough.
The scale of pin length to password length was changed since 14 is the modern “strong” standard:
- 1-4 digit PIN = 8 character “complex” password
- 5-7 digit PIN = 14 characters
- 8-11 = 21 characters (128-bit)
- 12-26 = 42 characters (256-bit)
Using Alpha 1 next to Alpha 3, it became clear that the original keyboard is just too small. Logging into the US Patent Office / USPTO, it took 4 tries to get the right password generated because I kept fat-fingering the little keyboard even though I was being very careful.
I’ll have to use up the little keyboards I have for testing and product reviews, but they won’t cut it for production.
