Credential Strength Scoring via Component Decomposition
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Solution Overview
Problem
Users often create or change credentials that are easy to remember but weak, making them vulnerable to unauthorized access, as they tend to use familiar words, numbers, or modifications of previous credentials, which are easily guessable by attackers.
Innovation Solution
A system and method that involve a client device and a remote server to determine the strength of a created credential by decomposing it into components, parsing with a limited dictionary, calculating a score based on probability, and performing both initial and secondary strength checks using different dictionaries and rulesets to ensure the credential is sufficiently strong.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Ease of operation
If users select credentials that are easy to remember (such as words, phrases, names, birthdays), then ease of operation is improved, but security strength deteriorates because these credentials are easily guessable by attackers
Solution Approach 1:
The system provides immediate feedback to users about the strength of their chosen credential through a strength determination process. The client device calculates a strength score based on multiple factors (length, character variety, dictionary word presence, sequential patterns) and communicates this feedback to the user, guiding them to create stronger credentials while maintaining usability.
Solution Approach 2:
The system evaluates and controls multiple parameters of the credential including length, character set diversity (uppercase, lowercase, numbers, symbols), presence of dictionary words, and sequential patterns. By monitoring and adjusting these parameters, the system ensures credentials meet minimum strength thresholds while remaining usable.
2Ease of operation
If users slightly modify previous credentials (adding a number or replacing with next number), then ease of operation is improved for credential changes, but security strength deteriorates because these modified credentials are easily determined by attackers
Solution Approach 1:
The system performs preliminary strength determination before the credential is finalized and stored. By evaluating the credential strength in advance (initial strength determination on client device and secondary determination on remote server), the system prevents weak modified credentials from being accepted, guiding users to create sufficiently strong credentials before completion.
Solution Approach 2:
The system provides feedback about credential strength to users during the credential creation or modification process. This feedback mechanism helps users understand why their modified credential may be too weak and guides them to create stronger alternatives that still meet their memory needs.
3Reliability
If the system performs both initial strength determination on client device and secondary strength determination on remote server, then security strength is improved through robust evaluation, but device complexity increases
Solution Approach 1:
The credential strength determination process is segmented into two distinct phases: initial strength determination performed on the client device and secondary strength determination performed on the remote server. This segmentation allows the system to distribute computational complexity across multiple devices, improving overall evaluation accuracy while managing system complexity through division of labor.
Solution Approach 2:
The system performs an initial partial strength determination on the client device to quickly filter out obviously weak credentials, then performs a more comprehensive secondary determination on the remote server. This two-level approach provides excessive evaluation action where needed while avoiding unnecessary complexity in cases where the initial determination is sufficient.
Data Source
AI summary
Devices, systems, and methods for determining a strength of a created credential are provided. The device includes one or more processors configured to decompose a created credential into credential components, parse the credential components using a limited dictionary, determine a probability of the credential components using a limited ruleset, and calculate a score of the created credential based on the determined probability. The device also includes a memory, the memory storing the limited dictionary and the limited ruleset, and a network interface component coupled to a network, the network interface component configured to transmit the created credential to a remote server over the network for a secondary credential strength determination if the calculated score is above a threshold.