Miquelfire at 14:58, 20 June 2007

2007-06-20T14:58:53Z

Miquelfire: Copied mostly from the main page

2007-06-19T02:16:11Z

Copied mostly from the main page

New page

== The Problem ==
If you're like most people, you have a few passwords that you use over and over again on many different websites. You know this isn't secure, yet you do it anyway. Why? Because it's difficult to remember a unique password for each and every web site that requires one.

== Existing Solutions ==
Maybe you do use unique passwords, and get around the problem of remembering them by storing them in a spreadsheet or other file. Maybe you even use [http://www.symantec.com/passwordmanager/ one] of the many [http://www.edash.com/gotpassword/gotpassword.shtml password managers] that are available. But now you've centralized your passwords and access to them becomes difficult while at work, a friend's, or a public internet terminal. You can't get to your passwords without carrying them around or [http://www.passwordsafe.com/ publishing them on the internet]. Some people even carry a USB keychain with their passwords wherever they go. How inconvenient. And [http://www.passwordsafe.com/ publishing them on the internet?] Yikes! We need not even mention the security risks inherent with that solution. Even if you trust the company storing the passwords, you can be sure every hacker in the world is drooling over the prospect of accessing their database.

== Our Solution ==
PASSWORD'''MAKER''' solves all of these issues. It is a small, lightweight, free, extension for Internet Explorer, [http://www.mozilla.org/products/firefox/ Firefox], [http://www.mozilla.org/products/mozilla1.x/ Mozilla], [http://www.netscape.com/ Netscape], [http://www.flock.com/ Flock], and [http://widgets.yahoo.com/ Yahoo! Widgets] which creates unique, secure passwords that are very easy for you to retrieve but no one else. Nothing is stored anywhere, anytime, so there's nothing to be hacked, lost, or stolen.

== How It Works ==
You provide PASSWORD'''MAKER''' two pieces of information: a "master password" -- that one, single password you like -- and the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/URL URL] of the website requiring a password. Through the magic of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryptographic_hash_function one-way hash algorithms], PASSWORD'''MAKER''' calculates a [http://www.rsasecurity.com/rsalabs/node.asp?id=2176 message digest], also known as a [http://www.microsoft.com/resources/documentation/Windows/2000/server/reskit/en-us/Default.asp?url=/resources/documentation/Windows/2000/server/reskit/en-us/distrib/dsch_key_vzqm.asp digital fingerprint], which can be used as your password for the website. Although one-way hash algorithms have a number of interesting characteristics, the one capitalized by PASSWORD'''MAKER''' is that the resulting fingerprint (password) does "not reveal anything about the input that was used to generate it."[http://java.sun.com/j2se/1.4.2/docs/guide/security/CryptoSpec.html#MessageDigest] In other words, if someone has one or more of your generated passwords, it is computationally infeasible for him to derive your master password or to calculate your other passwords. Computationally infeasible means even computers [http://krone.physik.unizh.ch/~stadel/zBox/ like this] won't help!

== What About Portability? ==
For times when you must use non-Firefox browsers or can't install Firefox extensions, there's an [http://passwordmaker.org/passwordmaker.html online version] which mimicks the extension and works in all browsers new and old. No downloads or installations are required. Additionally, stand-alone versions for desktops, mobile phones, and PDAs are coming shortly.

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 == The Problem ==
 If you're like most people, you have a few passwords that you use over and over again on many different websites. You know this isn't secure, yet you do it anyway. Why? Because it's difficult to remember a unique password for each and every web site that requires one.
 == Existing Solutions ==
 Maybe you do use unique passwords, and get around the problem of remembering them by storing them in a spreadsheet or other file. Maybe you even use [http://www.symantec.com/passwordmanager/ one] of the many [http://www.edash.com/gotpassword/gotpassword.shtml password managers] that are available. But now you've centralized your passwords and access to them becomes difficult while at work, a friend's, or a public internet terminal. You can't get to your passwords without carrying them around or [http://www.passwordsafe.com/ publishing them on the internet]. Some people even carry a USB keychain with their passwords wherever they go. How inconvenient. And [http://www.passwordsafe.com/ publishing them on the internet?] Yikes! We need not even mention the security risks inherent with that solution. Even if you trust the company storing the passwords, you can be sure every hacker in the world is drooling over the prospect of accessing their database.
 == Our Solution ==
 PASSWORD'''MAKER''' solves all of these issues. It is a small, lightweight, free, extension for Internet Explorer, [http://www.mozilla.org/products/firefox/ Firefox], [http://www.mozilla.org/products/mozilla1.x/ Mozilla], [http://www.netscape.com/ Netscape], [http://www.flock.com/ Flock], and [http://widgets.yahoo.com/ Yahoo! Widgets] which creates unique, secure passwords that are very easy for you to retrieve but no one else. Nothing is stored anywhere, anytime, so there's nothing to be hacked, lost, or stolen.
 == How It Works ==
 You provide PASSWORD'''MAKER''' two pieces of information: a "master password" -- that one, single password you like -- and the [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/URL URL] of the website requiring a password. Through the magic of [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cryptographic_hash_function one-way hash algorithms], PASSWORD'''MAKER''' calculates a [http://www.rsasecurity.com/rsalabs/node.asp?id=2176 message digest], also known as a [http://www.microsoft.com/resources/documentation/Windows/2000/server/reskit/en-us/Default.asp?url=/resources/documentation/Windows/2000/server/reskit/en-us/distrib/dsch_key_vzqm.asp digital fingerprint], which can be used as your password for the website. Although one-way hash algorithms have a number of interesting characteristics, the one capitalized by PASSWORD'''MAKER''' is that the resulting fingerprint (password) does "not reveal anything about the input that was used to generate it."[http://java.sun.com/j2se/1.4.2/docs/guide/security/CryptoSpec.html#MessageDigest] In other words, if someone has one or more of your generated passwords, it is computationally infeasible for him to derive your master password or to calculate your other passwords. Computationally infeasible means even computers [http://krone.physik.unizh.ch/~stadel/zBox/ like this] won't help!
 == What About Portability? ==
 For times when you must use non-Firefox browsers or can't install Firefox extensions, there's an [http://passwordmaker.org/passwordmaker.html online version] which mimicks the extension and works in all browsers new and old. No downloads or installations are required. Additionally, stand-alone versions for desktops, mobile phones, and PDAs are coming shortly.

PasswordMaker:About - Revision history

Miquelfire at 14:58, 20 June 2007

Miquelfire: Copied mostly from the main page