The present invention provides a method and apparatus for password
re-entry. In one or more embodiments, the invention is in an environment
wherein a password and data are input into the same document. In one
embodiment, this environment is the Internet where a web browser displays
the output of a web server in a form HTML document. When returning a
password, the invention generates two unique identifiers that represent
the entries in two password fields. Next, the invention reconstructs the
form by including previously entered data in the new form and by
substituting the two unique identifiers for the password fields. In one
embodiment, the user can edit the password by modifying the unique
identifier string. The original text of the password remains safely on the
server. If the password is edited, the server compares the unique
identifier strings re-sent in the encoded web page with the returned web
page. In this way, the server detects a modified password while still
maintaining the secrecy of the password.
