It should be possible to provide a fallback to go with unencrypted  
authentication @ server side depending on whether a flag set at client  
side by javascript (using cookie or hidden field).

Anyway, the only limitation of this technique i see is it can't be  
used in cases where the oneway hashing alhorithm to encrypt password @  
server side is not md5, that in turn will limit the versatile nature  
of choosing password encryption mechanism provided by a web  
development framework like django.

Regards,
M N Islam Shihan

On May 3, 2009, at 10:52 AM, Jerome Leclanche <[email protected]> wrote:

>
> Is there a fallback to normal auth possible if js is not running? I
> like the idea, but preventing someone who doesn't have js enabled to
> register/auth is pretty harsh.
>
> On Sun, May 3, 2009 at 6:27 AM, Paul Johnston <[email protected]>  
> wrote:
>>
>> Hi,
>>
>> Many web sites have a user name and password login system, and do not
>> use SSL. As a consequence, users' passwords are transmitted over the
>> internet unencrypted. This puts them at risk, particularly if the  
>> user
>> is on a shared ethernet segment, or open wireless network.
>>
>> For many years I have provided a JavaScript MD5 library (http://
>> pajhome.org.uk/crypt/md5/), which can be used to perform a challenge-
>> response login. This avoids passwords being transmitted unencrypted,
>> although the security is not as strong as SSL. A number of web sites
>> currently use this technique; for some years Yahoo did, although they
>> now have SSL login.
>>
>> However, the use of JavaScript MD5 is not widespread. I think this is
>> because few authentication libraries support it. It is possible for a
>> library to provide JavaScript MD5 as an authentication mechanism,  
>> with
>> the details hidden from the application developer. In fact, it's  
>> quite
>> easy to implement, and there is a lot of guidance on my site.
>>
>> So, this is a call to the authors of all web authentication  
>> libraries.
>> Add JavaScript MD5 as an authentication mechanism. And then let me
>> know, so I can link to you from my site. If you need any help
>> implementing it, drop me a line, I'll do what I can.
>>
>> I think supporting this mode would be a big selling point for any
>> authentication library. And if support becomes widespread, the
>> internet becomes a little bit safer for everyone.
>>
>> Best wishes,
>>
>> Paul
>>
>>>
>>
>
>
>
> -- 
> Adys
>
> >

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