We all do it; with the huge number of websites that require us to set up an account with a password added to the numerous email addresses we have, we often invariably use one simple password across different sites.
This is probably the case for even more sophisticated Internet users who may have one kick ass alpha numeric plus symbols password but still lapse into using it across different websites.
Well, if this is the case then the guys at Google’s Chromium Project may have something that sorts this issue out to a large extent. The Chrome Password Generation project seeks to create a feature in the Chrome browser that allows users to generate unique passwords for sites they are signing up for as prompted by the Chrome browser feature.
The feature will be represented as a little pin icon within the password entry field which a user can click and have Chrome generate a unique and strong password.
If used, Chrome will then save the password directly to the users Chrome password management settings and will further auto fill the field when the user visits the site again.
Chrome developers are working on this to try to mitigate attacks on users who tend to use weak passwords across their web logins and which then makes then easy targets for phishing attacks.
One interesting feature that the guys at Google say may become a reality is the ability to change all the passwords automatically in the event that the user succumbs to a privacy attack and loses their passwords.
This feature will obviously reduce the number of compromised accounts out there as well as act as an early warning system akin to what Gmail has when it tracks user logins and warns you if a foreign IP logs into your account.
In the long run, Chrome developers say the solution should be browser sign-in coupled with the OpenID authentication standard. The big challenge will however be that getting most sites on the Internet to use OpenID will take a while, as the developers at Chrome intimate.
