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<p class=MsoNormal>Greetings,<o:p></o:p></p>

<p class=MsoNormal><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></p>

<p class=MsoNormal>I&#8217;m writing to let you know about our new, experimental
OpenID Provider at <a href="http://www.inkblotpassword.com">http://www.inkblotpassword.com</a>.&nbsp;
Our implementation has a twist: we show you a series of inkblot images (similar
to a Rorschach test) to help you create and, later, remember your password.<o:p></o:p></p>

<p class=MsoNormal><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></p>

<p class=MsoNormal>I&#8217;m part of a small group at Microsoft Research that does
work in the security and distributed systems space.&nbsp; A few years ago, one
of our interns (Adam Stubblefield, now at Johns Hopkins) developed the idea of
using inkblot images for password prompting.&nbsp; He spent the summer doing a
user study that showed that inkblots made it much easier for users to remember very
strong passwords.&nbsp; The goal is to reduce the use of weak passwords.&nbsp;
You can read about the user study at <a
href="ftp://ftp.research.microsoft.com/pub/tr/TR-2004-85.pdf">ftp://ftp.research.microsoft.com/pub/tr/TR-2004-85.pdf</a>.&nbsp;
(There&#8217;s also a summary of the research at <a
href="http://research.microsoft.com/displayArticle.aspx?id=417">http://research.microsoft.com/displayArticle.aspx?id=417</a>.)<o:p></o:p></p>

<p class=MsoNormal><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></p>

<p class=MsoNormal>Last month, we decided to whip up an OpenID implementation
of Adam&#8217;s inkblot generator.&nbsp; Right now it&#8217;s pretty bare-bones,
but if people find it useful, we&#8217;d be open to suggestions on what to
improve.<o:p></o:p></p>

<p class=MsoNormal>&nbsp;<o:p></o:p></p>

<p class=MsoNormal>Enjoy!<o:p></o:p></p>

<p class=MsoNormal><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></p>

<p class=MsoNormal>Cheers,<o:p></o:p></p>

<p class=MsoNormal>Jeremy Elson<o:p></o:p></p>

<p class=MsoNormal>MSR<o:p></o:p></p>

<p class=MsoNormal><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></p>

<p class=MsoNormal><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></p>

<p class=MsoNormal><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></p>

<p class=MsoNormal><o:p>&nbsp;</o:p></p>

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