On Thu, 2011-01-27 at 06:40 -0500, Stephen Harris wrote:
*NEVER* use password authentication for root (passwords are easier to brute force 'cos people choose bad passwords). Use ssh public key access for root, with appropriate restrictions (eg "from=").
You haven't seen my long and difficult (for others) password (uppercase, lowercase, and digits). It is unlikely ever to succumb to brute force. :-)