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Paper - 1999 USENIX Annual Technical Conference, June 6-11, 1999, Monterey, California, USA    [Technical Program]

Pp. 81–92 of the Proceedings
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A Future-Adaptable Password Scheme

Niels Provos and David Mazières
{provos,dm}@openbsd.org
The OpenBSD Project


Abstract:

Many authentication schemes depend on secret passwords. Unfortunately, the length and randomness of user-chosen passwords remain fixed over time. In contrast, hardware improvements constantly give attackers increasing computational power. As a result, password schemes such as the traditional UNIX user-authentication system are failing with time.

This paper discusses ways of building systems in which password security keeps up with hardware speeds. We formalize the properties desirable in a good password system, and show that the computational cost of any secure password scheme must increase as hardware improves. We present two algorithms with adaptable cost--eksblowfish, a block cipher with a purposefully expensive key schedule, and bcrypt, a related hash function. Failing a major breakthrough in complexity theory, these algorithms should allow password-based systems to adapt to hardware improvements and remain secure well into the future.



 

Niels Provos and David Mazieres
4/28/1999

This paper was originally published in the Proceedings of the 1999 USENIX Annual Technical Conference, June 6-11, 1999, Monterey, California, USA
Last changed: 1 Mar 2002 ml
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