Password management
First Claim
1. A method of managing password for a plurality of software resources accessible by a user, said method comprising:
- providing a password registry for storing passwords within a workstation;
allowing each of a plurality of software resources to register its password in said password registry via a respective one of a plurality of front-end processes within said workstation, wherein each said password is encrypted by said respective front-end process before being stored in said password registry;
in response to an access request to one of said software resources via a corresponding one of said front-end processes, determining if an encrypted password associated with said requested software resource is stored in said password registry;
in a determination that said encrypted password associated within said requested software resource is stored in said password registry, sending said encrypted password from said password registry to said corresponding front-end process, said corresponding front-end process decrypting the encrypted password and permitting said access request based on the decrypted password by the front-end process; and
in a determination that said encrypted password associated within said requested software resource is not stored in said password registry, notifying said front-end process resulting in prompting for a password from a user.
1 Assignment
0 Petitions
Accused Products
Abstract
A password management solution which provides a user with convenient access to multiple resources (e.g. systems and services), and also provides the flexibility to establish varying password security requirements for each resource is disclosed. In an embodiment, there is provided a password registry for registering resources and securely storing user ID and encrypted password information. An unencrypted user-provided password may be encrypted by a process associated with each resource, using an encryption algorithm specific to that resource, before storage of the encrypted password in the password registry. An encrypted password retrieved from the password registry may be decrypted by a process associated with each resource using a decryption algorithm specific to that resource.
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Citations
10 Claims
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1. A method of managing password for a plurality of software resources accessible by a user, said method comprising:
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providing a password registry for storing passwords within a workstation; allowing each of a plurality of software resources to register its password in said password registry via a respective one of a plurality of front-end processes within said workstation, wherein each said password is encrypted by said respective front-end process before being stored in said password registry; in response to an access request to one of said software resources via a corresponding one of said front-end processes, determining if an encrypted password associated with said requested software resource is stored in said password registry; in a determination that said encrypted password associated within said requested software resource is stored in said password registry, sending said encrypted password from said password registry to said corresponding front-end process, said corresponding front-end process decrypting the encrypted password and permitting said access request based on the decrypted password by the front-end process; and in a determination that said encrypted password associated within said requested software resource is not stored in said password registry, notifying said front-end process resulting in prompting for a password from a user. - View Dependent Claims (2, 3, 4, 5)
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6. A computer readable storage medium having computer program product for managing passwords for a plurality of software resources accessible by a user, said computer readable medium comprising:
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computer program code for providing a password registry for storing passwords within a workstation; computer program code for allowing each of a plurality of software resources to register its password in said password registry via a respective one of a plurality of front-end processes within said workstation, wherein each said password is encrypted by said respective front-end process before being stored in said password registry; computer program code for, in response to an access request to one of said software resources via a corresponding one of said front-end processes, determining if an encrypted password associated with said requested software resource is stored in said password registry; computer program code for, in a determination that said encrypted password associated within said requested software resource is stored in said password registry, sending said encrypted password from said password registry to said corresponding front-end process, said corresponding front-end process decrypting the encrypted password and permitting said access request based on the decrypted password by the front-end process; and computer program code for, in a determination that said encrypted password associated within said requested software resource is not stored in said password registry, notifying said front-end process resulting in prompting for a password from a user. - View Dependent Claims (7, 8, 9, 10)
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Specification