Fluid Passwords - Mitigating the effects of password leaks at the user level
This addresses password security for general users by automating password changes to reduce risks from leaks, though it is incremental as it builds on existing password management tools.
The paper tackles the problem of password leaks by introducing an algorithm that automatically resets user passwords upon login, storing new passwords in a browser manager to mitigate breach effects without user effort.
Password leaks have been frequently reported in recent years, with big companies like Sony, Amazon, LinkedIn, and Walmart falling victim to breaches involving the release of customer information. Even though passwords are usually stored in a salted hash, attackers still guess passwords because of insecure password choices and password reuse. However, the adverse effects of a password breach can be mitigated by changing users' passwords. We introduce a simple yet powerful algorithm to reset user account passwords automatically, while still allowing users to authenticate without any additional effort on their part. We implemented our algorithm as a Firefox add-on that automatically resets a user's password when they log in to their account, and stores the new password in the built-in Firefox password manager.