Sept. 22, 1999
The 'double-blinded test'
While reading through the Laboratory's new password policy for unclassified passwords, an idea of pure genius came to me. In the scientific world the "gold standard" for scientific excellence is the "double-blind test." I therefore propose for the maximum in security that neither the user nor the computer know the passwords. This is an idea worthy of that outstanding counterintelligence officer, Ed Curran, who believes that "You know the program is working when you get the blowback, when you get the squealing and the whining. They realize we're serious. And we are." (quoted from the Los Angeles Times)
--William S. Varnum