Patent ID: 8234695

Claim:
A computer-implemented method of managing network security comprising: receiving a user input from a user comprising a user name and a password; determining whether the user name corresponds to a plurality of user accounts; determining whether the password is valid; respectively determining whether each of the plurality of user accounts is locked; selecting a security response to the user input based upon whether the user name corresponds to the plurality of user accounts, whether the password is valid, and whether each of the plurality of user accounts is locked, wherein selecting the security response to the user input further comprises denying access to the user to the plurality of user accounts and adding at least one strike to each of the plurality of user accounts that are unlocked in response to determining that the user name corresponds to a user name associated with each of the plurality of user accounts, determining that the password is invalid for at least one of the plurality of user accounts, and determining that at least a first of the plurality of user accounts is unlocked, wherein a predetermined number of strikes leads to an account being locked; and outputting the security response.