Ontology-Based Vault Item Impact Scoring for Password Security
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Solution Overview
Problem
Current password managers do not accurately reflect the impact of weak passwords on the security of personally identifiable information (PII) protected by them, as they calculate master password strength without considering the specific vulnerabilities of different accounts, such as those used for open authorization (OAuth) or credit card information.
Innovation Solution
The system identifies cybersecurity status by calculating an ontology-based impact score for each vault item, considering password strength and its impact on other related accounts, and displays a prioritized list of vulnerable items, recommending changes and initiating security actions when necessary.
Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles
Engineering Contradiction Analysis
1Measurement precision
If password managers calculate master password strength by averaging all password strengths, then the calculation is simple and fast, but it does not reflect the actual impact of weak passwords on security of personally identifiable information
Solution Approach 1:
The patent assigns different weights to different vault items based on their security importance and impact. Instead of treating all passwords equally, the system identifies critical vault items (such as those containing personally identifiable information, financial data, or used for open authorization) and assigns them higher weights in the master score calculation. This allows the system to focus assessment resources on the most security-critical items while maintaining a manageable complexity level.
Solution Approach 2:
The patent segments the password vault into multiple categories based on security impact and importance. By dividing the vault items into segments with different weightings, the system can calculate impact scores for each segment and combine them to form an overall master score. This segmentation approach enables more accurate security assessment without requiring complete reanalysis of every single password, thus balancing precision with system complexity.
2Measurement precision
If the system calculates impact scores based on ontology and relationships between vault items, then the security assessment becomes more accurate, but the calculation time and processing resources increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent pre-calculates and stores the ontology structure and relationship information between vault items during vault setup and updates. By preparing this framework in advance, the system avoids performing complex relationship analyses from scratch during each security assessment. When calculating impact scores, the system only needs to apply the pre-established relationships to current password strengths, significantly reducing calculation time while maintaining accurate security assessment.
3Ease of operation
If the system prioritizes vault items by impact scores and provides detailed security recommendations, then user awareness of security risks improves, but the interface complexity and information overload increase
Solution Approach 1:
The patent extracts and highlights only the most critical security issues and recommendations for the user, rather than presenting all possible security information. By taking out the top priority vault items with the highest impact scores and focusing recommendations on those specific items, the system helps users concentrate on the most important security actions without being overwhelmed by comprehensive but less critical information. This extraction approach simplifies the user interface while maintaining ease of operation for security management.
Data Source
AI summary
The disclosed computer-implemented method for identifying cybersecurity status based on an ontology of vault items may include (i) identifying, at a computing device, the ontology of a plurality of vault items and (ii) performing a security action including (A) calculating, based on the ontology, a respective impact score for each vault item in the plurality of vault items and (B) calculating a master score of a plurality of passwords from (I) a respective password strength of each password in the plurality of passwords and (II) the respective impact score for each vault item associated with each password in the plurality of passwords. Various other methods, systems, and computer-readable media are also disclosed.