PASSWORD MODIFICATION IN A DISTRIBUTED COMPUTER SYSTEM
Original Publication Date: 1996-Nov-01
Included in the Prior Art Database: 2002-May-02
Publishing Venue
Motorola
Related People
Chee Ma: AUTHOR [+3]
Abstract
In a distributed computer system that consists new password is propagated (in encrypted form) to of a master and slave hosts, users typically can login the master host. In turn, the master host sends the to any of the slave hosts by providing a password. It password change for the particular user to all the is desirable, for security reasons, for a user to peri- slaves in the system. This enables the user to utilize odically change his/her password. For this purpose, the new password at any of the slave hosts the next the user logs into any ofthe slave hosts and supplies time he/she logs in. The above procedure is depicted a new password. Under normal circumstances, the in Figure 1.
Technical Developments
PASSWORD MODIFICATION IN A DISTRIBUTED COMPUTER SYSTEM
by Chee Ma, Eustathios Vlachogiannis, Chun Hsu and Burhanuddin Hussain
In a distributed computer system that consists new password is propagated (in encrypted form) to of a master and slave hosts, users typically can login the master host. In turn, the master host sends the to any of the slave hosts by providing a password. It password change for the particular user to all the is desirable, for security reasons, for a user to peri- slaves in the system. This enables the user to utilize odically change his/her password. For this purpose, the new password at any of the slave hosts the next the user logs into any ofthe slave hosts and supplies time he/she logs in. The above procedure is depicted a new password. Under normal circumstances, the in Figure 1.
Fig. 1 Basic Scheme for Password Modification in a Distributed Computer System
The problem arises when either the master host is non-operational, or the network connection between the master and the slave host where the password change was initiated is not intact. With an NIS configuration typically found in a distributed environment, the password change is not allowed when either ofthe above situations occurs.
Our invention is a scheme that will allow the user to change his/her password, regardless of the master host status. Whenever the user changes the password on the slave host, the user name and new password (in encrypted format) are stored in a pass-
word entry locally on that machine, along with the time the change was made. When the master host is accessible (if not already), the password change record is propagated from the slave to the master. It is possible for the user to have changed his/her pass- word from several slave hosts before the master becomes accessible. To handle th...