US5812764A
Expired / Lapsed
US
⏱️ 0.0 years remaining
Password management system over a communications network
Assignee: International Business Machines Corp
•
Filing: 1997-01-30
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Granted: 1998-09-22
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Expires: 2017-01-30
Abstract
Abstract The present invention is a system and method for securing communications over a network. A list of passwords is pseudorandomly generated and securely provided to at least two communicators. Upon initial communication between communicating parties, a password is pseudorandomly selected by one communicator and indirectly communicated to at least one other communicator through the use of an identifier. Subsequent messages between the communicators may be encrypted using the selected password. After an interval of time, a new password is pseudorandomly selected and used.
Inventors
- 👤 Michael William Heinz, Sr.
Bibliographic Details
Application Number
—
Jurisdiction
US
Data Source
google_patents
Last Synchronized
2026-11-04 18:31
CPC Classifications
H; H04; H04L; H04L63/00; H04L63/04; H04L63/0428; H04L63/0442; G; G06; G06F; G06F21/00; G06F21/30; G06F21/31; H04L63/08; H04L63/083; H04L9/00; H04L9/40; G06F2211/00; G06F2211/007; G06F2221/00; G06F2221/21; G06F2221/2103; H04L63/0838; H04L63/0846
Claims Analysis
Total Claims: 47
Claim 1
Independent Claim
108 words
A password management system for communicating over a communications network comprising: means for generating a password list, the password list comprised of a plurality of passwords; means for providing the password list to at least a first party and a second party; selecting means for selecting one of the passwords from the password list provided to the first party; means for providing the second party with an identifier for the selected password; means for looking up in the password list provided to the second party a second party password corresponding to the identifier; and means for confirming that the second party password is identical to the selected password.
Claim 2
Dependent Claim
108 words
A password management system for communicating over a communications network comprising: means for generating a password list, the password list comprised of a plurality of passwords; means for providing the password list to at least a first party and a second party; selecting means for selecting one of the passwords from the password list provided to the first party; means for providing the second party with an identifier for the selected password; means for looking up in the password list provided to the second party a second party password corresponding to the identifier; and means for confirming that the second party password is identical to the selected password.
Claim 3
Dependent Claim
36 words
A password management system for communicating over a communications network according to claim 1, wherein the means for providing the password list is a means other than a means for communicating over an electronic communications network.
Claim 4
Dependent Claim
25 words
A password management system for communicating over a communications network according to claim 1, further comprising means for encrypting a communication with the selected password.
Claim 5
Dependent Claim
24 words
A password management system for communicating over a communications network according to claim 1, wherein each of the passwords includes printable and unprintable characters.
Claim 6
Dependent Claim
37 words
A password management system for communicating over a communications network according to claim 1, wherein the selecting means comprises means for repeatedly selecting a new password from the password list after expiration of an interval of time.
Claim 7
Dependent Claim
46 words
A password management system for communicating over a communications network according to claim 5, wherein subsequently selected passwords are used for intervals of time, each interval of time being less than, approximately equal to, or greater than the interval of time for the previously selected password.
Claim 8
Dependent Claim
27 words
A password management system for communicating over a communications network according to claim 5, wherein the new password is a password that has not been previously used.
Claim 9
Dependent Claim
28 words
A password management system for communicating over a communications network according to claim 1, further comprising storing means for storing the password list provided to the first party.
Claim 10
Dependent Claim
25 words
A password management system for communicating over a communications network according to claim 8, wherein the storing means is comprised of a plurality of sublists.
Claim 11
Dependent Claim
26 words
A password management system for communicating over a communications network according to claim 9, wherein at least one of the sublists is comprised of available passwords.
Claim 12
Dependent Claim
33 words
A password management system for communicating over a communications network according to claim 1, wherein the means for generating a password list generates a plurality of password files for a plurality of communicators.
Claim 13
Dependent Claim
23 words
A password management system for communicating over a communications network according to claim 11, further comprising storing means for storing the password files.
Claim 14
Dependent Claim
32 words
A password management system for communicating over a communications network according to claim 1, wherein the means for generating a password list generates a new password list in response to predetermined criteria.
Claim 15
Dependent Claim
28 words
A password management system for communicating over a communications network according to claim 1, wherein the first party is a server and the second party is a client.
Claim 16
Dependent Claim
100 words
A password management system for communicating over a communications network comprising: means for providing a password list to at least a first party and a second party, the password list comprised of a plurality of passwords; means for selecting one of the passwords from the password list provided to the first party; means for providing the second party with an identifier for the selected password; means for looking up the password list provided to the second party a second party password corresponding to the identifier; and means for confirming that the second party password is identical to the selected password.
Claim 17
Dependent Claim
100 words
A password management system for communicating over a communications network comprising: means for providing a password list to at least a first party and a second party, the password list comprised of a plurality of passwords; means for selecting one of the passwords from the password list provided to the first party; means for providing the second party with an identifier for the selected password; means for looking up the password list provided to the second party a second party password corresponding to the identifier; and means for confirming that the second party password is identical to the selected password.
Claim 18
Dependent Claim
34 words
A password management system for communicating over a communications network according to claim 15, further comprising means for encrypting communications between at least the first party and the second party with the selected password.
Claim 19
Dependent Claim
28 words
A password management system for communicating over a communications network according to claim 15, further comprising means for selecting a new password after expiration of a time interval.
Claim 20
Dependent Claim
121 words
A challenge and response authentication system for communicating over a communications network comprising: means for generating a password list, the password list comprised of a plurality of passwords; means for providing the password list to at least a first party and a second party; selecting means for selecting one of the passwords from the password list provided to the first party; means for providing the second party with an identifier for the selected password; means for looking up in the password list provided to the second party a second party password corresponding to the identifier; means for communicating the second party password to the first party; and means for confirming that the second party password is identical to the selected password.
Claim 21
Dependent Claim
121 words
A challenge and response authentication system for communicating over a communications network comprising: means for generating a password list, the password list comprised of a plurality of passwords; means for providing the password list to at least a first party and a second party; selecting means for selecting one of the passwords from the password list provided to the first party; means for providing the second party with an identifier for the selected password; means for looking up in the password list provided to the second party a second party password corresponding to the identifier; means for communicating the second party password to the first party; and means for confirming that the second party password is identical to the selected password.
Claim 22
Dependent Claim
23 words
A challenge and response authentication system for communicating over a communications network according to claim 18, wherein the selected password is not reused.
Claim 23
Independent Claim
97 words
A method for securing communications over a communications network comprising the steps of: generating a password list, the password list comprised of a plurality of passwords; providing the password list to at least a first party and a second party; selecting one of the passwords from the password list provided to the first party; providing the second party with an identifier for the selected password; looking up in the password list provided to the second party a second party password corresponding to the identifier; and confirming that the second party password is identical to the selected password.
Claim 24
Independent Claim
97 words
A method for securing communications over a communications network comprising the steps of: generating a password list, the password list comprised of a plurality of passwords; providing the password list to at least a first party and a second party; selecting one of the passwords from the password list provided to the first party; providing the second party with an identifier for the selected password; looking up in the password list provided to the second party a second party password corresponding to the identifier; and confirming that the second party password is identical to the selected password.
Claim 25
Dependent Claim
25 words
A method for securing communications over a communications network according to claim 20, wherein the password list is not communicated over an electronic communications network.
Claim 26
Dependent Claim
25 words
A method for securing communications over a communications network according to claim 20, further comprising the step of encrypting a communication with the selected password.
Claim 27
Dependent Claim
23 words
A method for securing communications over a communications network according to claim 20, wherein each of the passwords includes printable and unprintable characters.
Claim 28
Dependent Claim
35 words
A method for securing communications over a communications network according to claim 20, wherein the step of selecting comprises repeatedly selecting a new password from the password list after expiration of an interval of time.
Claim 29
Dependent Claim
45 words
A method for securing communications over a communications network according to claim 24, wherein subsequently selected passwords are used for intervals of time, each interval of time being less than, approximately equal to, or greater than the interval of time for the previously selected password.
Claim 30
Dependent Claim
26 words
A method for securing communications over a communications network according to claim 24, wherein the new password is a password that has not been previously used.
Claim 31
Dependent Claim
27 words
A method for securing communications over a communications network according to claim 20, further comprising the step of storing the password list provided to the first party.
Claim 32
Dependent Claim
29 words
A method for securing communications over a communications network according to claim 27, wherein the password list provided to the first party is divided into a plurality of sublists.
Claim 33
Dependent Claim
25 words
A method for securing communications over a communications network according to claim 28, wherein at least one of the sublists is comprised of available passwords.
Claim 34
Dependent Claim
36 words
A method for securing communications over a communications network according to claim 20, wherein the step of generating a password list comprises the step of generating a plurality of password files for a plurality of communicators.
Claim 35
Dependent Claim
22 words
A method for securing communications over a communications network according to claim 30, further comprising the step of storing the password files.
Claim 36
Dependent Claim
35 words
A method for securing communications over a communications network according to claim 20, wherein the step of generating a password list comprises the step of generating a new password list in response to predetermined criteria.
Claim 37
Dependent Claim
27 words
A method for securing communications over a communications network according to claim 20, wherein the first party is a server and the second party is a client.
Claim 38
Dependent Claim
39 words
A method for securing communications over a communications network according to claim 20, further comprising the step of repeatedly selecting a new password from the password list provided to the first party after expiration of an interval of time.
Claim 39
Dependent Claim
45 words
A method for securing communications over a communications network according to claim 34, wherein subsequently selected passwords are used for intervals of time, each interval of time being less than, approximately equal to, or greater than the interval of time for the previously selected password.
Claim 40
Independent Claim
92 words
A method for securing communications over a communications network comprising the steps of: providing a password list to at least a first party and a second party, the password list comprised of a plurality of passwords; selecting one of the passwords from the password list provided to the first party; providing the second party with an identifier for the selected password; looking up the password list provided to the second party a second party password corresponding to the identifier; and confirming that the second party password is identical to the selected password.
Claim 41
Independent Claim
92 words
A method for securing communications over a communications network comprising the steps of: providing a password list to at least a first party and a second party, the password list comprised of a plurality of passwords; selecting one of the passwords from the password list provided to the first party; providing the second party with an identifier for the selected password; looking up the password list provided to the second party a second party password corresponding to the identifier; and confirming that the second party password is identical to the selected password.
Claim 42
Dependent Claim
34 words
A method for securing communications over a communications network according to claim 36, further comprising the step of encrypting communications between at least the first party and the second party with the selected password.
Claim 43
Dependent Claim
37 words
A method for securing communications over a communications network according to claim 36, further comprising the step of selecting a new password from the password list provided to the first party after expiration of a time interval.
Claim 44
Independent Claim
106 words
A method for securing communications over a communications network comprising the steps of: generating a password list, the password list comprised of a plurality of passwords; providing the password list to at least a first party and a second party; selecting one of the passwords from the password list provided to the first party; providing the second party with an identifier for the selected password; looking up in the password list provided to the second party a second party password corresponding to the identifier; communicating the second party password to the first party; and confirming that the second party password is identical to the selected password.
Claim 45
Independent Claim
106 words
A method for securing communications over a communications network comprising the steps of: generating a password list, the password list comprised of a plurality of passwords; providing the password list to at least a first party and a second party; selecting one of the passwords from the password list provided to the first party; providing the second party with an identifier for the selected password; looking up in the password list provided to the second party a second party password corresponding to the identifier; communicating the second party password to the first party; and confirming that the second party password is identical to the selected password.
Claim 46
Dependent Claim
20 words
A method for securing communications over a communications network according to claim 39, wherein the selected password is not reused.
Claim 47
Dependent Claim
32 words
A method for securing communications over a communications network according to claim 39, further comprising the step of selecting a new password from the password list after expiration of a time interval.
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USPTO Annuity & Maintenance Windows
| Annuity Stage | Window Opens | Payment Deadline | Surcharge Period Until | Estimated Fee | Status |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 3.5 Years (Year 4) | 2001-09-21 | 2002-03-23 | 2002-09-22 | $2000.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 7.5 Years (Year 8) | 2005-09-21 | 2006-03-23 | 2006-09-22 | $3760.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |
| 11.5 Years (Year 12) | 2009-09-21 | 2010-03-23 | 2010-09-22 | $7700.00 | Window Closed / Lapsed |