Random Password Generator

    If you're like me, you probably subscribe to several BBS's,
MEGA online services or other computing services requiring you to
enter a password for your security.  For your protection, the
password you choose should be a string of randomly selected
characters.  Using words familiar to you may allow you to remember
them easily, but this practice also makes it VERY easy for a hacker
to determine your access code.  Life's a trade-off.  Using a
randomly generated password places the burden on you to remember
it, but makes it much more difficult for a hacker to guess it. 
Personally, I prefer security over all other considerations. 
Hence, Random Password Generator.

   The best things in life are simple.  That philosophy was
employed in writing this program.  Random Password Generator is an
extremely simple piece of code, but it does just what it is
supposed to do: Generate Random Passwords for you.  

   How does RPG go about picking random passwords?  I'm so glad you
asked.  RPG does two things for each character.  First, it "flips
a coin" to determine whether this particular character will be an
alpha or numeric character. If it comes up "heads", it will choose
a number from 0 to 9.  If it comes up "tails", it will choose any
letter in the alphabet.  RPG repeats these two steps for each
character.  That is, each character is chosen without regard to the
previous character calculations.  Those of you with an
understanding of basic statistics will be able to determine the
probability of somebody guessing your password.  For example, if
you desire a six-character password to be generated, the
probability of somebody guessing it becomes:

  (.5)(.1) X (.5)(.1) X (.5)(.1) X (.5)(.1) X (.5)(.1) X (.5)(.1)

...Which becomes:

      (.05)(.05)(.05)(.05)(.05)(.05)

...Which equals:

        P= .000000015

    Indeed, if somebody wanted to break this password and offered
a new guess each second (24 hrs a day), it would take 69 years to
run through all the possible combinations.  Now there are more
complicated ways to further increase the security of your password,
but what da ya want for free?

TO INSTALL RANDOM PASSWORD GENERATOR:

   1. Simply copy the file "Password.exe" to any directory you wish
to start it from.  To run, CD to that directory and type
"password".  ...Hope you find it useful.
 
  --> Let me know what you think, and report any bugs. My internet 
  address is:
                pwoods1@umbc.edu

