Method and apparatus for generating and reinforcing user passwords

• US 20050071686A1
• Filed: 09/29/2003
• Published: 03/31/2005
• Est. Priority Date: 09/29/2003
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: Avaya Incorporated
• Original Assignee: Avaya Incorporated
• Inventors: Bagga, Amit, O'Gorman, Lawrence, Bentley, Jon
• Granted Patent: US 7,873,995 B2
• Time in Patent Office: Days
• US Class Current: 726/19
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/46 by designing passwords or checking the strength of passwords

Abstract

A method and apparatus are provided for generating passwords that may be memorized by a user, yet not easily guessed by an attacker. A user is presented with one or more textual, audio or visual hints. A password is automatically generated based on the selected hint (and possibly further input from the user). The presented hints may include poems, songs, jokes, pictures or words. The generated password and selected hint can be presented to the user during enrollment for further reinforcement and stored in a user database for subsequent reinforcement and verification. The enrollment process may schedule the sending of one or more reminder messages to the user containing the hint to reinforce the password in the user'"'"'s memory.

Claims

1. A method for generating a password for a user, comprising:

presenting said user with a plurality of hints;

receiving a user selection of one of said hints;

automatically generating a password based on said selected hint; and

presenting said selected hint to said user to reinforce said generated password.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein said plurality of hints include one or more of textual, audio or visual hints.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein said plurality of hints include one or more of poems, songs, jokes, pictures or words.

4. The method of claim 1, wherein said generated password is further based on a user input.

5. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of presenting said selected hint and said generated password to said user at enrollment.

6. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of sending said selected hint to said user as a reinforcement of said generated password.

7. The method of claim 1, further comprising the step of recording said selected hint and said generated password in a record associated with said user.

8. The method of claim 1, wherein said selected hint is a poem and said generated password has a similar rhyme and meter as said selected poem.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein said plurality of hints includes a plurality of jokes each containing one of a number of different variations for one or more variable words or phrases included in each joke and said generated password includes said variations for said one or more variable words or phrases.

10. The method of claim 1, wherein said plurality of hints includes a plurality of words and said generated password is based on a subset of said words selected by said user.

11. The method of claim 10, further comprising the step of generating one or more visual images to represent said subset of said words selected by said user.

12. The method of claim 10, further comprising the step of generating a sentence to reinforce said subset of said words selected by said user.

13. The method of claim 1, wherein said plurality of hints includes a plurality of image icons and said generated password is based on a subset of said image icons selected by said user.

14. The method of claim 13, further comprising the step of generating one or more visual images to represent said subset of said image icons selected by said user.

15. The method of claim 13, wherein said generated password is a resulting visual image from said selected subset of said image icons.

16. The method of claim 13, wherein said user is queried about a resulting visual image from said selected subset of said image icons to obtain access to a protected resource.

17. A method for generating a password for a user, comprising:

presenting said user with a plurality of poems;

receiving a user selection of one of said poems; and

automatically generating a password based on said selected poem, said generated password having a similar rhyme and meter as said selected poem.

18. A method for generating a password for a user, comprising:

presenting said user with a plurality of jokes each containing one of a number of different variations for one or more variable words or phrases included in each joke;

receiving a user selection of one of said jokes; and

automatically generating a password based on said selected joke, said generated password including said variations for said one or more variable words or phrases.

19. A method for generating a password for a user, comprising:

presenting said user with a plurality of icons;

receiving a user selection of a subset of said icons; and

automatically generating a password based on said selected subset of said icons.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein said wherein said plurality of icons includes a plurality of words and said generated password is based on a subset of said words selected by said user.

21. The method of claim 20, further comprising the step of generating one or more visual images to represent said subset of said words selected by said user.

22. The method of claim 20, further comprising the step of generating a sentence to reinforce said subset of said words selected by said user.

23. The method of claim 19, wherein said plurality of icons includes a plurality of image icons and said generated password is based on a subset of said image icons selected by said user.

24. The method of claim 23, further comprising the step of generating one or more visual images to represent said subset of said image icons selected by said user.

25. The method of claim 23, wherein said generated password is a resulting visual image from said selected subset of said image icons.

26. The method of claim 23, wherein said user is queried about a resulting visual image from said selected subset of said image icons to obtain access to a protected resource.

27. A apparatus for generating a password for a user, comprising:

a memory; and

at least one processor, coupled to the memory, operative to;

present said user with a plurality of hints;

receive a user selection of one of said hints;

automatically generate a password based on said selected hint; and

present said selected hint to said user to reinforce said generated password.

28. The apparatus of claim 27, wherein said plurality of hints include one or more of textual, audio or visual hints.

29. The apparatus of claim 27, wherein said plurality of hints include one or more of poems, songs, jokes, pictures or words.

30. The apparatus of claim 27, wherein said generated password is further based on a user input.

31. The apparatus of claim 27, further comprising the step of presenting said selected hint and said generated password to said user at enrollment.

32. The apparatus of claim 27, further comprising the step of sending said selected hint to said user as a reinforcement of said generated password.

33. The apparatus of claim 27, further comprising the step of recording said selected hint and said generated password in a record associated with said user.