Patent ID: 8495379

Claim:
A method for managing a hierarchy of passwords, comprising the steps of: acquiring a codeword; modifying the codeword randomly to produce a modified codeword; selecting the modified codeword as a password if the modified codeword is recoverable; and otherwise repeating the modifying and selecting; assigning the password to a user; determining a syndrome of the codeword; storing a cryptographic hash of the codeword and the syndrome at an access control device; associating a second user with the user; determining the codeword based on the password and the syndrome; modifying the codeword randomly with a first probability to produce a second modified codeword; determining a second syndrome of the second modified codeword; storing the second syndrome and a cryptographic hash of the second modified codeword at a second access control device; modifying the second modified codeword randomly with a second probability to produce a second password; and assigning the second password to the second user, wherein steps of the method are performed by a processor.