Generate secure password from a master key
Do you struggle to remember all your passwords for the numerous websites that you visit? The Streaming Internet Radio toolbar (http://streaminginternetradiotoolbar.blogspot.com/) password generator allows you to remember just one password (your “master key”), which is used to generate unique, complex passwords for the websites you visit.
There is no software to install, the password generator works right from your toolbar. The toolbar password generator never stores or transmits your passwords, so it’s easy and safe to use on multiple computers - even while travelling. It’s also completely free.
To use the Streaming Internet Radio toolbar password generator on your toolbar, click Menu > SOFTWARE / SECURITY > Password generator
How it works
Your toolbar password generator uses your master password (which you set) and the domain name of the web site you are visiting as the “seed” for a one-way hash algorithm. The output of this algorithm is your generated password. If either your master password or the domain name of the website changes, even by one character, the generated password will be drastically different.
For example, let’s say that your master password is “cornflakes”. If you use your Streaming Internet Radio toolbar password generator at yahoo.com, your generated password will be “r9AQeOhBgU”. If you use your password generator at amazon.com, your generated password will be “zcbEm1t32B”.
Your toolbar password generator doesn’t need to remember this or store it anywhere, because it’s just a (very complex) math problem: the result is the same every time. And because your toolbar password generator uses a one-way hash function, no one will be able to reverse-engineer your master password from your generated passwords.
Anti phishing
Your toolbar password generator also provides some degree of phishing protection. Suppose you receive a phishing attack—for example, an e-mail that purports to be from Amazon but is actually from a malicious hacker trying to steal your password. It sends you to a page that’s set up to look like Amazon.com and has a similar URL (say, “www.amaz0n.com”), and includes a login form. Using your toolbar password generator at this malicious website with your master password (“cornflakes”), your generated password is “uc15yrcmqI”. Compare with the previous example: though the master password is the same and the domain name is only slightly different, the password generator generates a completely different password. Even if you are fooled by the phishing attack and attempt to log in to the impostor website, you haven’t sent your real password.
How do I log in with the toolbar password generator?
When you are ready to log in or create an account at a web site, complete the Password generator form using your master password. Your Streaming Internet Radio toolbar password generator will produce a unique password for you, based upon your master password, and the site URL. Once the password has been generated, enter your unique password into the site log in form.
Will I need to change all of my passwords?
Yes! You will need to change the passwords for your existing web site accounts to match what the password generator generates. Depending on how many web site accounts you have, this is a potentially daunting task. But consider the alternative: sticking with your old, low-security, shared password all over the web. There’s no need to do it all at once; in fact, most people do it gradually.
To change a web site’s password, find that site’s “change password” form. The procedure is then the same as the general procedure above.
What if the password generator is unavailable?
From time to time, webpages do become unavailable for one reason, or another. With this in mind, a offline password generator is available for you to download and keep. Simply click the Download offline version link within the password generator window.
Acknowledgments
Many thanks to Chris @ http://supergenpass.com/ for allowing the use of much of the text (from his website) contained within this article. The Streaming Internet Radio toolbar password generator is based upon the work of Chris Zarate (http://supergenpass.com/) , Paul Johnston (http://pajhome.org.uk/crypt/md5/) and Nic Wolff (http://www.angel.net/~nic/).
The source code for the Streaming Internet Radio toolbar password generator is available here (http://sean.f.duffy.googlepages.com/password_generator_source_code.txt) – it has been modified very slightly to that provided by Chris Zarate (http://supergenpass.com/), and is available to you under the GNU General Public License (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/gpl.html).
This program comes with ABSOLUTELY NO WARRANTY.
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