Finding passwords by random walks: how long does it take?
G Kabatiansky, G Oshanin · Journal of Physics A Mathematical and Theoretical · 2009
We compare the efficiency of a deterministic 'lawnmower' and random search strategies for finding a prescribed sequence of letters (a password) of length M in which all letters are taken from the same Q -ary alphabet. We show that, at best, a random search takes two times longer than a 'lawnmower' search.