IP Library Granted Patent US 10,540,493
Granted Patent B1
US 10,540,493 · App. 16/135,757 · Granted Jan 21, 2020

System and methods for minimizing organization risk from users associated with a password breach

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Quick Facts
Patent No.
US 10,540,493
App. No.
16/135,757
Granted
Jan 21, 2020
Kind
B1
Abstract

System and methods are disclosed for organizations to run a test against an active directory list to see if any user-provided passwords have been part of an existing data breach. Utilizing information from such a test identifies users that have weak passwords, reused passwords or shared passwords that have been associated with an earlier breach. With this information, the organization can seek to reduce risk by training staff for this specific issue in a timely and appropriate manner to significantly reduce the risk of a future breach by those identified users. Training can be customized and targeted at those users who attempt to use passwords that have been associated with a breach (either of their own account or of another account on the same or related domain.

Claims (27)

1. A method for providing electronic training to users with passwords associated with a data breach, the method comprising:

(a) determining, by a server, a plurality of users with passwords associated with one or more data breaches and for each of the plurality of users a corresponding type of password breach selected from a plurality of types of password breach, the server establishing a user risk score for each of the plurality of users based at least on the corresponding type of password breach;

(b) selecting, by the server, a first one or more users of the plurality of users based at least on a first type of password breach from the plurality of types of password breach;

(c) generating, by the server responsive to the selection, a first electronic training campaign configured to train the first one or more users on using passwords based at least on the first type of password breach; and

(d) communicating, by the server, the first electronic training campaign to one or more devices of the first one or more users, the server modifying the user risk score for at least one user of the first one or more users based at least on a result of the first electronic training campaign.

2. The method of claim 1 , further comprising selecting a second one or more users of the plurality users with a second type of password breach, generating a second electronic training campaign configured to train the second one or more users on using passwords based at least on the second type of password breach and communicating the second electronic training campaign to the second one or more users.

3. The method of claim 1 , further comprising changing one or more user properties of a user responsive to the user risk score for that user.

4. The method of claim 1 , wherein further comprising establishing an entity risk score for an entity associated with the plurality of users based at least on the one or more data breaches or results from the first electronic training.

5. The method of claim 4 , wherein the first type of password breach comprises a password of a user being subject to a data breach associated with that user.

6. The method of claim 4 , wherein the second type of password breach comprises a password of a user being subject to a data breach associated with another user within a same domain.

7. The method of claim 4 , wherein the first type of password breach comprises a password of a user being subject to a data breach associated with that user.

8. The method of claim 4 , wherein the second type of password breach comprises a password of a user being subject to a data breach associated with another user within a same domain.

9. The method of claim 4 , wherein (b) further comprises selecting the first one or more users based on a number of times the first one or more users or a domain of the first one or more users have been subject to the one or more data breaches.

10. A system for providing electronic training to users with passwords associated with a data breach, the system comprising:

a server comprising one or more processors coupled to memory and configured to:

determine a plurality of users with passwords associated with one or more data breaches and for each of the plurality of users a corresponding type of password breach selected from a plurality of types of password breach, the server establishing a user risk score for each of the plurality of users based at least on the corresponding type of password breach;

select a first one or more users of the plurality of users based at least on a first type of password breach from the plurality of types of password breach;

generate, responsive to the selection, a first electronic training campaign configured to train the first one or more users on using passwords based at least on the first type of password breach; and

communicate the first electronic training campaign to one or more devices of the first one or more users, the server modifying the user risk score for at least one user of the first one or more users based at least on a result of the first electronic training campaign.

11. The system of claim 10 , wherein the server is further configured to select a second one or more users of the plurality users with a second type of password breach, generate a second electronic training campaign configured to train the second one or more users on using passwords based at least on the second type of password breach and communicate the second electronic training campaign to one or more devices of the second one or more users.

12. The system of claim 10 , wherein the server is further configured to execute a password breach test to determine the plurality of users with passwords associated with one or more data breaches, the server storing results of the password breach test to a data storage.

13. The system of claim 10 , wherein the server is further configured to change one or more user properties of a user responsive to the user risk score for that user.

14. The system of claim 10 , wherein the server is further configured to establish an entity risk score for an entity associated with the plurality of users based at least on the one or more data breaches or results from the first electronic training.

15. The system of claim 14 , wherein the server is further configured to change one or more user properties of one of more users of the entity responsive to the entity risk score.

16. The system of claim 10 , wherein the first type of password breach comprises a password of a user being subject to a data breach associated with that user.

17. The system of claim 10 , wherein the second type of password breach comprises a password of a user being subject to a data breach associated with another user within a same domain.

18. The system of claim 10 , wherein the server is further configured to select the first one or more users based on a number of times the first one or more users or a domain of the first one or more users have been subject to the one or more data breaches.

Assignments (6)
PATENT SECURITY AGREEMENT Recorded Aug 8, 2025
From: KNOWBE4, INC.
To: JPMORGAN CHASE BANK, N.A., AS COLLATERAL AGENT
Reel/Frame 072337/0277 →
RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST IN PATENT COLLATERAL RECORDED AT REEL/FRAME: 062627/0001 Recorded Jul 28, 2025
From: BLUE OWL CREDIT INCOME CORP. (FORMERLY KNOWN AS OWL ROCK CORE INCOME CORP.)
To: KNOWBE4, INC.
Reel/Frame 072108/0205 →
TERMINATION AND RELEASE OF SECURITY INTEREST IN PATENTS RECORDED AT REEL/FRAME NO.: 056885/0889 Recorded Feb 2, 2023
From: BANK OF AMERICA, N.A., AS ADMINISTRATIVE AGENT
To: KNOWBE4, INC.
Reel/Frame 062625/0841 →
PATENT SECURITY AGREEMENT Recorded Feb 2, 2023
From: KNOWBE4, INC.
To: OWL ROCK CORE INCOME CORP., AS COLLATERAL AGENT
Reel/Frame 062627/0001 →
NOTICE OF GRANT OF SECURITY INTEREST IN PATENTS Recorded Mar 12, 2021
From: KNOWBE4, INC.
To: BANK OF AMERICA, N.A., AS ADMINISTRATIVE AGENT
Reel/Frame 056885/0889 →
ASSIGNMENT OF ASSIGNOR'S INTEREST Recorded Sep 19, 2018
From: KRAS, GREG
To: KNOWBE4, INC.
Reel/Frame 046914/0753 →