Automatic PIN creation using password

• US 8,756,652 B2
• Filed: 10/25/2011
• Issued: 06/17/2014
• Est. Priority Date: 11/03/2010
• Status: Active Grant

• Current Assignee: PayPal, Inc. (PayPal Holdings, Inc.)
• Original Assignee: eBay Inc.
• Inventors: Jakobsson, Markus
• Primary Examiner(s): LEE, JASON T
• Application Number:
  US13/281,273
• Publication Number:
  US 20120110634A1
• Time in Patent Office: 966 Days
• Field of Search: 726/1, 726/6, 726/19
• US Class Current: 726/1
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/31 User authentication
• CPC Class Codes: G06F 21/46 by designing passwords or checking the strength of passwords

Abstract

A PIN is automatically generated based on at least one rule when the user enters a password through a user device. In one example, the PIN is a truncated version of the password where each character in the truncated version is mapped onto a number. The mapping can be a truncation at the beginning or end of the password, or the mapping can be with any pattern or sequence of characters in the password. This PIN generation may be transparent to the user, such that the user may not even know the PIN was generated when the password was entered. When the user attempts to access restricted content, the user may enter the PIN instead of the password, where the user may be notified of the rule used to generate the PIN so that the user will know the PIN by knowing the password.

Claims

1. A method, comprising:

receiving, by a processor of a content provider, identification information of a user through a user device;

generating, by the processor of the content provider, a stored credential comprising a first numeric PIN by converting a first credential including an alphanumeric password to the stored credential based on a rule comprising mapping individual characters of the first credential to numbers or characters, wherein the stored credential has characters that are unknown to the user when the stored credential is generated and does not contain more characters than the first credential;

notifying, by the processor of the content provider, the user of the rule;

receiving, by the processor of the content provider, an entered credential comprising a second numeric PIN from the user;

comparing, by the processor by the processor of the content provider, the entered credential with the stored credential; and

granting access to the user, wherein in granting the access the entered credential matches the stored credential.

2. The method of claim 1, wherein the first credential is used to generate a plurality of stored credentials based on a corresponding plurality of rules.

3. The method of claim 1, wherein the identification information comprises a user name, a user phone number, or a user email address.

6. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

receiving an second credential comprising a change to the first credential; and

generating a new stored credential by converting the second credential to the new stored credential based on the rule.

7. The method of claim 6 further comprising:

receiving one of the stored credential and the new stored credential; and

associating the received one of the stored credential and the new stored credential with a user account of the user.

8. The method of claim 7, wherein the user account corresponds to an online service provider.

9. The method of claim 1, wherein the entered credential is received from one of typing on a keypad and entering using voice commands.

10. The method of claim 1 further comprising:

generating a new rule; and

generating a new stored credential by converting the first credential to the new stored credential based on the new rule.

11. The method of claim 10, wherein the new rule is generated periodically.

4. A system, comprising:

a computer storage storing account information for a plurality of users having an account with a content provider, wherein the account information comprises a first credential, a second credential automatically generated from the first credential, and a user identifier for a user; and

a processor operable to;

receive identification information of a user through a user device;

generate the second credential comprising a first numeric PIN by converting the first credential including an alphanumeric password to the second credential based on a rule comprising mapping individual characters of the first credential to numbers or characters, wherein the second credential has characters that are unknown to the user when the second credential is generated and does not contain more characters than the first credential;

notify the user of the rule;

receive an entered credential comprising a second numeric PIN from the user;

compare the entered credential with the second credential; and

grant access to the user, wherein in granting the access the entered credential matches the second credential.

5. The system of claim 4, wherein the first credential is used to generate a plurality of second credentials based on a corresponding plurality of rules.

12. The method of claim 4, wherein the processor is further operable to:

receive an third credential comprising a change to the first credential; and

generate a fourth credential by converting the third credential to the fourth credential based on the rule.

13. The method of claim 12, wherein the processor is further operable to:

receive one of the second credential and the fourth credential; and

associating the received one of the second credential and the fourth credential with the account of the user.

14. The method of claim 13, wherein the account corresponds to an online service provider.

15. The method of claim 4, wherein the entered credential is received from one of typing on a keypad and entering using voice commands.

16. The method of claim 4, wherein the processor is further operable to:

generate a new rule; and

generate a third credential by converting the first credential to the third credential based on the new rule.

17. The method of claim 16, wherein the new rule is generated periodically.