passgen

Passgen is a generic term for software that generates passwords or passphrases. It is used to produce random credentials for accounts, devices, and services, and may be implemented as a standalone utility, a component of a password manager, or part of an operating system's security toolkit. The goal is to create passwords that are difficult to guess while being convenient to use.

Typical features include control over password length, inclusion of various character classes (uppercase and lowercase letters, digits, and punctuation), avoidance of easily confusable characters, and support for passphrase generation using word lists. Some implementations offer batch generation, output formatting (plain text, e.g., one password per line or in JSON), and integration with clipboard management or secure storage.

Security considerations: passgen should rely on a cryptographically secure random number generator and strong entropy sources. It should avoid reusing credentials, protect memory, and not store or echo passwords in logs by default. Compatibility with common standards and audits can improve trust.

Implementation notes: Passgen tools exist for many platforms and languages, including Python, Go, C, and JavaScript. They are commonly distributed as command-line utilities or library modules and may be used in scripts or integrated with password managers. A typical usage is to generate a 20-character password using a broad character set, for example: passgen -l 20 -c 'A-Za-z0-9!@#$%&*'.

See also: secure random number generation, password manager, entropy, brute-force resistance.

---