Patent ID: 8424067

Claim:
A method for adjusting an expiration time for a password that is used to access a password-protected network resource from a device coupled to the network, comprising: receiving a request from the device to access the network resource using the password; responsive to receiving the request, determining that the expiration time for the password is not sufficient to account for a new password compromise risk based upon an environment associated with the device, wherein the new password compromise risk is greater than a previous password compromise risk associated with a previous request to access the network resource using the password; wherein the previous request resulted in granting access to the network resource; wherein the environment is one of a medium security environment and a high risk security environment associated with the new password compromise risk and the previous password compromise risk is associated with a secure environment; wherein the secure environment is a physical place of business and the high risk security environment is outside the physical place of business; wherein the medium security environment is related to a known IP address and the high risk security environment is related to an unknown IP address; and responsive to determining that the expiration time for the password is not sufficient to account for the new password compromise risk, decreasing the expiration time for the password in proportion to a change between the secure environment and the environment, wherein the change in the expiration time is based upon a difference between the new password compromise risk and the previous password compromise risk.