Gh0st's Corner
@ Brief History of the Computer Pa$$w0rd
Computer passwords have been around since 1961. Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) had built the Compatible Time-Sharing System (CTSS), a time-share research computer. Researchers were restricted to using CTSS to four hours per week, and so Fernando Corbató developed individual logins with passwords to be able keep track of when researchers hit their time limit and to keep their individual files separate. This, of course, led to the first computer hack in 1962. Ph.D. researcher Allen Scherr wanted to extend his usage beyond four hours, and so found the means to print the password file so he could log in as other users (CTSS 50th Anniversary Commemorative Overview) and use their time. Likewise, the original UNIX machines kept username/passwords in a single file, and we can still see remnants of that in today's /etc/passwd file, though that doesn't actually contain passwords anymore.