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The more standard way to migrate passwords/authentication schemes is to do it on login. So if you want to switch to scrypt from some other format, wait for them

by cpitman 11y ago

The more standard way to migrate passwords/authentication schemes is to do it on login. So if you want to switch to scrypt from some other format, wait for them to login, check their password via the old method, then rehash the password with the new method. Store in the database which method was used. If you're switching to a non-password based system like OAuth, make users link their accounts after logging in with their password. If you are going to completely drop the password, then send each user an identifiable link where they can link their account.

VincentEvans 11y ago
Thank you for your reply. Interesting you mention intercepting users passwords. Our system already went through a similar transition years ago - when we had to migrate away from NDS (Novell), since we abandoned that technology. In NDS we did not have access to hashes. We ended up having to "MTM" the passwords in opur web app to intercept them before they are sent to NDS and after a successful login store them in the database. To transition our entire user base took a very long time (more than a year), since we had no way to compel the users to login and had to wait until they login on their own volition. Ever since we've been reluctant to lose the ability to recover the passwords. Transition to Active Directory has been on our agenda for quite some time - and having the ability to decrypt the password for this purpose - we can make that happen in short order (AD hashes the passwords, so it will be a one-way operation of course). But the question still stands - is asymmetric encryption strong and secure enough to take place of hashing, assuming the private key is secured? I have not been able to find any relevant sources to answer these questions.
- mkj 11y ago
  > But the question still stands - is asymmetric encryption strong and secure enough to take place of hashing, assuming the private key is secured? It should be (though it's a big "assuming"). Being able to quickly move away from an older less secure hashing scheme rather than waiting for users to log in could be a security advantage too.
  - VincentEvans 11y ago
    There's a couple of us here watching the replies to this - as this has been our concern for a while and this is a great opportunity for us to get some feedback. Thank you for your reply. Interesting point about it being an advantage. I am actually going to make a note of this. One way of handling the private key that i proposed - was to use a privileged access vault like Thycotic. Or just have it on a USB key in a lockbox.

by cpitman 11y ago

VincentEvans 11y ago

Thank you for your reply. Interesting you mention intercepting users passwords. Our system already went through a similar transition years ago - when we had to migrate away from NDS (Novell), since we abandoned that technology. In NDS we did not have access to hashes. We ended up having to "MTM" the passwords in opur web app to intercept them before they are sent to NDS and after a successful login store them in the database. To transition our entire user base took a very long time (more than a year), since we had no way to compel the users to login and had to wait until they login on their own volition. Ever since we've been reluctant to lose the ability to recover the passwords. Transition to Active Directory has been on our agenda for quite some time - and having the ability to decrypt the password for this purpose - we can make that happen in short order (AD hashes the passwords, so it will be a one-way operation of course). But the question still stands - is asymmetric encryption strong and secure enough to take place of hashing, assuming the private key is secured? I have not been able to find any relevant sources to answer these questions.

mkj 11y ago
> But the question still stands - is asymmetric encryption strong and secure enough to take place of hashing, assuming the private key is secured? It should be (though it's a big "assuming"). Being able to quickly move away from an older less secure hashing scheme rather than waiting for users to log in could be a security advantage too.
- VincentEvans 11y ago
  There's a couple of us here watching the replies to this - as this has been our concern for a while and this is a great opportunity for us to get some feedback. Thank you for your reply. Interesting point about it being an advantage. I am actually going to make a note of this. One way of handling the private key that i proposed - was to use a privileged access vault like Thycotic. Or just have it on a USB key in a lockbox.