The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document.
The patent badge is an abbreviated version of the USPTO patent document. The patent badge covers the following: Patent number, Date patent was issued, Date patent was filed, Title of the patent, Applicant, Inventor, Assignee, Attorney firm, Primary examiner, Assistant examiner, CPCs, and Abstract. The patent badge does contain a link to the full patent document (in Adobe Acrobat format, aka pdf). To download or print any patent click here.
Patent No.:
Date of Patent:
Feb. 17, 2015
Filed:
Oct. 27, 2010
Stuart E. Schechter, Kirkland, WA (US);
Cormac E. Herley, Bellevue, WA (US);
Michael D. Mitzenmacher, Lexington, MA (US);
Stuart E. Schechter, Kirkland, WA (US);
Cormac E. Herley, Bellevue, WA (US);
Michael D. Mitzenmacher, Lexington, MA (US);
Microsoft Corporation, Redmond, WA (US);
Abstract
A popularity determination module (PDM) is described which reduces the effectiveness of statistical guessing attacks. The PDM operates by receiving a password (or other secret information item) from a user. The PDM uses a model to determine whether the password is popular among a group of users. If so, the PDM may ask the user to select another password. In one implementation, the model corresponds to a probabilistic model, such a count-min sketch model. The probabilistic model provides an upper-bound assessment of a number of times that a password has been encountered. Further, the probabilistic model provides false positives (in which passwords are falsely assessed as popular) at a rate that exceeds a prescribed minimum rate. The false positives are leveraged to reduce the effectiveness of statistical guessing attacks by malicious entities.