Testing an example passphrase safely

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Quick Questions

Shade in the A or B circle for each question.

1. You want to try a passphrase strength checker. Which should you type in?

A A made-up example passphrase

B The real passphrase for my school account

2. A friend says: "Type your real passphrase into the checker so it can tell you if it is strong." What is the safe choice?

A Do it, because a checker is always safe

B Say no and use a made-up example instead

3. Which one is a good made-up example to test in a checker?

A The passphrase I use for my game account

B purple-banana-rocket-lamp

4. A checker says your made-up example is "Weak". What does this tell you?

A The example is easy to guess and needs to be stronger

B The example is perfect and safe to use

5. A checker shows the result "Strong" for your made-up example. What is the best way to read this?

A This kind of example is hard to guess, so I can copy the idea for a new passphrase

B I should now type in my real passphrase to compare it

Match the Pairs

Draw a line connecting each item on the left to its match on the right.

Left column		Right column
1strength checker		AThis types the real passphrase into the checker. Only a made-up example should ever be tested.
2Result: Weak		B"dog" -> "dog-cloud-tennis-pickle"
3Only type a made-up example into a checker, never your real passphrase		CA Weak result means the example is easy to guess, so it should be made stronger, not kept.
4Make a weak example stronger by adding more random words		DThe checker says the example is easy to guess and needs to be made stronger
5checker.test(myRealPassphrase)		Etest("purple-frog-kite-lamp")
6Result: Weak -> keep using it		FA tool or quiz that rates how strong a passphrase is, so you can test a made-up example

Definitions

strength checker

Fill in the Blanks

Complete each line of code by filling in the missing parts.

example ← "blue-frog-kite-moon" result ← ______________(example)

IF result = "weak" ____ example ← example + "-tiger-sun"

_____(result)

isReal ← _____

example ← example _ "-tiger-sun"

Spot the Error

Shade in the letter of the line that contains an error.

Question 1

A example ← "owl-sock-moon-hat"

B result ← check(example)

C show(result)

D IF result = "strong" THEN

E add more random words

Question 2

A example ← "cat-drum-cloud"

B result ← check(example)

C show(result)

D IF LENGTH(example) > 16 THEN

E add more random words

Question 3

A example ← "sun-bike-tent"

B result ← check(example)

C IF result = "weak" THAN

D example ← example + "-kite"

Question 4

A example ← "owl-mango-gum"

B result ← example

C show(result)

Question 5

A example ← myRealPassphrase

B result ← check(example)

C show(result)

Answer Key

Testing an example passphrase safely

Section A: Quick Questions

A — A made-up example passphrase

B — Say no and use a made-up example instead

B — purple-banana-rocket-lamp

A — The example is easy to guess and needs to be stronger

A — This kind of example is hard to guess, so I can copy the idea for a new passphrase

Section B: Match the Pairs

strength checker → A tool or quiz that rates how strong a passphrase is, so you can test a made-up example

Result: Weak → The checker says the example is easy to guess and needs to be made stronger

Only type a made-up example into a checker, never your real passphrase → test("purple-frog-kite-lamp")

Make a weak example stronger by adding more random words → "dog" -> "dog-cloud-tennis-pickle"

checker.test(myRealPassphrase) → This types the real passphrase into the checker. Only a made-up example should ever be tested.

Result: Weak -> keep using it → A Weak result means the example is easy to guess, so it should be made stronger, not kept.

Section C: Definitions

strength checker — A tool or quiz that shows how strong a passphrase is. Only test a made-up example in it, never your real passphrase. Read the result, then make a weak example stronger.

Section D: Fill in the Blanks

example ← "blue-frog-kite-moon"
result ← check_strength(example)

IF result = "weak" THEN
  example ← example + "-tiger-sun"

PRINT(result)

isReal ← FALSE

example ← example + "-tiger-sun"

Section E: Spot the Error

D — The program adds more words to make the example stronger, so it should only do that when the result is "weak". The line should be IF result = "weak" THEN.

D — A short example needs more words, so the test should be for LENGTH less than 16 (<). With > the program would add words to an example that is already long.

C — The keyword is THEN, not THAN. The line should be IF result = "weak" THEN.

B — This line never runs the strength checker, so result is just the example text. It should be result ← check(example) to get the strength result.

A — You must only test a made-up example in a strength checker, never your real passphrase. The line should use a made-up example such as "owl-mango-gum".