Talk:Munged password

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Computing Low‑importance

	This article is within the scope of WikiProject Computing, a collaborative effort to improve the coverage of computers, computing, and information technology on Wikipedia. If you would like to participate, please visit the project page, where you can join the discussion and see a list of open tasks.ComputingWikipedia:WikiProject ComputingTemplate:WikiProject ComputingComputing
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Needs major revision

Many parts of this article are wrong (not to mention redundant or irrelevant):

"It can lead to creation of secure passwords" - No, modern password cracking tools incorporate munge/leet substitution.
"a munged password could be useful as a protection against hackers" - Ditto
"Mungeing helps to create a strong password that the user can remember easily" - Not strong if a dictionary word is munged.
"Adding a number and/or special character to a password might thwart some simple dictionary attacks" - Questionable.
The part about writing passwords down is irrelevant.
"adds 2–3 bits of entropy" - Not necessarily, especially if the password would already have numbers/specials.
"combinations of multiple random words should be used, which can be remembered easily by forming a mental story from them" - Good advice, but not related to mungeing in any way.

I recommend a rewrite, removing all the claims of strength/security (instead referencing Password strength that lists munging as weak) and simply discussing the technique. If there are no major objections, I will do this.

JimTheFrog (talk) 17:35, 21 April 2025 (UTC)[reply]

Thank you for rewriting this article. It always felt off to me, but I wasn't brave enough to do something about it. * Pppery * _{it has begun...} 15:15, 10 May 2025 (UTC)[reply]

This page should be deleted

The single source cited does not support anything in the article. A search for alternative sources uncovers mostly references back to this page. How do I start the deletion process? Ambiguator (talk) 21:29, 21 August 2019 (UTC)[reply]

Comment

Munging is not concidered a perversion by all. Some of us are offended by that lable, it is a hobbie

Munging - E-mail Addresses

If you use NNTP newsgroups it becomes a necessity to munge your E-mail and Return Addresses so that harvesting bots don't collect your E-mail and you get flooded with spam etc http://members.aol.com/emailfaq/mungfaq.html —Preceding unsigned comment added by 81.132.124.139 (talk) 10:21, 31 October 2007 (UTC)[reply]

What is all this things all about Africakick (talk) 15:53, 13 April 2022 (UTC)[reply]

The definition is a subset

The definition as provided in this article is a subset of a larger definition of the term "munge" - according to David Cross “…data munging consists of a number of processes that are applied to an initial data set to convert it into a different, but related data set. These processes will fall into a number of categories: recognition, parsing, filtering, and transformation.” see Data Munging with Perl. Perhaps the lack of references is connected to this being incorrect, or at least incomplete? Astonzia (talk) 17:48, 4 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]
edited my own comment for clarityAstonzia (talk) 18:01, 10 February 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Page requires disambiguation

There was an earlier use of the term "Munge" - it was a regular expression text editor available on the DEC 10 mainframe from Digital Equipment Corporation in the mid-70's. "Munge" wasn't a backronym, but a recursive acronym: "Munge Until No Good Edits". People in comp sci didn't take themselves quite so seriously back then...

NefariousWheel@gmail.com —Preceding unsigned comment added by 202.53.35.32 (talk) 04:56, 16 December 2009 (UTC)[reply]

I think that's because we generally couldn't get real jobs back then. :) Shiggity (talk) 17:19, 13 August 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Etymology

Ultimately, I'm sure the word comes from French manger or Italian mangiare, to eat. Or from any of their cognates in other Romance languages.Grassynoel (talk) 02:23, 28 October 2010 (UTC)[reply]

Indeed, the Jargon file notes the similarity to "munch," which is certainly related to Old French "mangier" / Modern French "manger." 161.222.160.8 (talk) 14:49, 26 May 2011 (UTC) Paul Hartzer[reply]

Reference for calculation needed

Is there a reference for "because it only adds 2-3 bits of Entropy"?

Wrong redirection

Munge should not redirect to Munged Password. Munge has a much wider meaning of (typically kludgey) data transformation. It is related to, but not identical to, Mung, so if Munge doesn't deserve its own page it ought to redirect to Mung (computer_term) and that page fixed to include its proper meaning. The Jargon File entry has this broadly right imo. 87.194.161.101 (talk) 09:34, 15 August 2012 (UTC)[reply]

The heart of a man

Hi Africakick (talk) 15:51, 13 April 2022 (UTC)[reply]