Patent ID: 8191126

Claim:
A method for an authentication server to generate a given secret, the method comprising: the authentication server receiving a request to generate the given secret; the authentication server generating a first image, wherein the first image comprises a first matrix of cells, wherein each cell in the first matrix contains exactly one symbol, and wherein each symbol of a first set of symbols appears in exactly one cell in the first matrix; the authentication server generating a second image, wherein the second image comprises a second matrix of cells, wherein each cell in the second matrix contains exactly one symbol, and wherein each symbol of a second set of symbols appears in exactly one cell in the second matrix; the authentication server providing the first image and the second image in a single step; after providing the first image and the second image, the authentication server receiving a given userid, a first sequence of symbols and a second sequence of symbols; the authentication server determining that (1) the first sequence of symbols represents a first sequence of cells in the first image, and (2) the second sequence of symbols represents a second sequence of cells in the second image; the authentication server determining that the first sequence of cells and the second sequence of cells are identical, whereby the first sequence of cells and the second sequence of cells represent the given secret; and the authentication server providing an indication of successful generation of the given secret.