My Official contribution to the ISO

ISO, or the International Organization for Standardization, apparently founded by dyslexics, is a group of people who create standards we all use- the 'iso' setting on film was their work, as are many other things we come across in a day, such as how many slices of baloney officially make a baloney sandwich.

I need to contribute to this order in the world, and to do so I will add this:

Password complexity requirements.

Yes, geeky, but the world is complicated and we are forgetful. In a world where most users keep their passwords on a post-it either affixed to the monitor or securely stashed in the top drawer of their desk (and those stereo faceplates, which are either in the glovebox, behind the sunvisor, or under the seat- you're not fooling anyone you know,) the last thing we need is to have to make up new passwords for every Tom Dick and Harry freaking website who goes and decides to have their own baloney requirements.

So, here it is:

at least six characters (security experts are shreiking, but six is CLOSE to passable)
including;
at least one uppercase
and
at least one lowercase
and
at least one number or symbol
with a maximum length of 40 characters.

(the security experts are relaxing now, but not completely)

Why a maximum so high? Well, pretty much nobody is going to want one that long anyway, but a lot of places require a password of 6 to 10 characters. What jerk made that parameter? My goal is for every user to be able to use the same password everywhere, and that way they will NOT need to write it down, and since they use it everywhere, they will be a lot less likely to forget it. There are flaws to any security system with people involved in it, so we're fundamentally screwed from the start- get over it.

I have to remember about ten different passwords thanks to various websites over the years. I could- should- go and align them all, but I'd rather complain about it first.

Wah.

So, ISO peoples, let's get on this pressing issue, k?

ps: a brief search of their site did not uncover any such global standard... is there one?