User interfaces for managing user account passwords

Patent metadata

Field	Value
Publication number	US-11556631-B2
Application number	US-202016888507-A
Country	US
Kind code	B2
Filing date	May 29, 2020
Priority date	Jun 1, 2019
Publication date	Jan 17, 2023
Grant date	Jan 17, 2023

Abstract

In some embodiments, an electronic device presents a weak password warning in a password management user interface that includes information about the user account with which the password is associated. In some embodiments, an electronic device presents a weak password warning in a login user interface.

First claim

What is claimed as new and desired to be protected by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A method comprising:
at an electronic device in communication with a display device and one or more input devices:
receiving, via the one or more input devices, an input corresponding to a request to display password information associated with a first user account, wherein the password information includes a first password for gaining access to the first user account; and
in response to receiving the input corresponding to the request to display the password information associated with the first user account, displaying, via the display device, a first user interface that includes the first password associated with the first user account, wherein:
in accordance with a determination that the first password does not satisfy one or more first criteria, including a criterion that is not satisfied when a particular portion of the first password exhibits a weakness of a first type, the first user interface includes information about the weakness of the first type, wherein the information about the weakness of the first type includes the particular portion of the first password that exhibits the weakness of the first type, and the particular portion of the first password is different from the first password; and

in accordance with a determination that the first password does satisfy the one or more first criteria, the first user interface does not include the information about the weakness of the first type that includes the particular portion of the first password.

2. The method of claim 1 , wherein the input to display the password information associated with the first user account includes selection, from a password management user interface, of a representation of the first user account, the password management user interface including a plurality of representations of a plurality of user accounts.

3. The method of claim 2 , wherein displaying the password management user interface includes:
in accordance with a determination that a respective user account is associated with a respective password that does not satisfy the one or more first criteria independent of whether the respective password is used for multiple user accounts included in the password management user interface, displaying a representation of the respective user account with a visual indication that the respective password does not satisfy the one or more first criteria.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first user interface includes a selectable option that is selectable to display, via the display device, a user interface from which the first password for gaining access to the first user account can be changed.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein:
in accordance with a determination that the first user account is associated with a website that supports direct linking to a page from which the first password can be changed, the selectable option is selectable to display the page from which the first password can be changed, and
in accordance with a determination that the first user account is not associated with the website that supports direct linking to the page from which the first password can be changed, the selectable option is selectable to display a home page of the website.

6. The method of claim 4 , further comprising:
in accordance with a determination that a password management user interface includes a plurality of user accounts for which respective passwords do not satisfy the one or more first criteria:
in response to changing the first password for gaining access to the first user account in the user interface from which the first password for gaining access to the first user account can be changed, displaying, via the display device, a selectable option that is selectable to display a user interface from which a second password for gaining access to a second user account, in the plurality of user accounts, can be changed.

7. The method of claim 6 , wherein the password management user interface includes a respective user account for which a respective password does not satisfy the one or more first criteria, and
in accordance with a determination that the respective user account is a high-value user account, the respective user account is included in the plurality of user accounts, and
in accordance with a determination that the respective user account is not a high-value user account, the respective user account is not included in the plurality of user accounts.

8. The method of claim 1 , wherein the one or more first criteria include one or more of:
a criterion that is not satisfied when at least a portion of a respective password is easily guessed;
a criterion that is not satisfied when at least a portion of the respective password is a dictionary word;
a criterion that is not satisfied when at least a portion of the respective password is a sequence of characters;
a criterion that is not satisfied when at least a portion of the respective password includes repeated characters; or
a criterion that is not satisfied when at least a portion of the respective password is a result of a common character substitution into a known word.

9. The method of claim 1 , wherein the particular portion of the first password further exhibits a weakness of a second type, different than the first type, and the first user interface includes the particular portion of the first password with information about the weakness of the second type.

10. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first password further includes a second particular portion that exhibits the weakness of the first type, different from the particular portion, and the first user interface includes the second particular portion of the first password with the information about the weakness of the first type that includes the second particular portion of the first password.

11. The method of claim 1 , wherein the first password further includes a second particular portion that exhibits a weakness of a second type, different than the first type, and the first user interface includes the second particular portion of the first password with information about the weakness of the second type that includes the second particular portion of the first password.

12. The method of claim 1 , further comprising:
receiving, via the one or more input devices, an input corresponding to a request to display password information associated with a respective user account, wherein the password information includes a respective password for gaining access to the respective user account; and
in response to receiving the input corresponding to the request to display the password information associated with the respective user account, displaying, via the display device, a respective user interface that includes the respective password associated with the respective user account, wherein:
in accordance with a determination that the respective password has more than a threshold number of characters, evaluating the respective password using the one or more first criteria to determine whether the respective password exhibits a weakness that will be displayed in the respective user interface; and
in accordance with a determination that the respective password has less than or equal to the threshold number of characters, evaluating the respective password using one or more second criteria, different than the one or more first criteria, to determine whether the respective password exhibits a weakness that will be displayed in the respective user interface.

13. The method of claim 12 , further comprising evaluating the respective password for re

Assignees

• Apple Inc

Inventors

• Knight Elaine Y
• Pugh Chelsea E
• Abbasian Reza
• Houle Richard
• Mondello Richard J
• Li Zhuo
• Coffman Patrick L

Classifications

• G06F21/41

  where a single sign-on provides access to a plurality of computers · CPC title

• G06F21/46 Primary

  by designing passwords or checking the strength of passwords · CPC title

• G06F21/45 Primary

  Structures or tools for the administration of authentication · CPC title