Dictionary

duress password en · NOUN

Etymology

From duress + password.

Meanings

1. A secondary password that will provide an alternative to standard unlocking of a computer, such as wiping the hard drive or alerting other users, in the event of the password being extorted from its holder.
   • The duress password is always the user’s password with the first character moved to the end. 2010 August 14, Tim Calabro, Robert Kao, William Petz, Dante Sarigumba, “Introducing Common IT Settings”, in Blackberry All-in-One for Dummies, Hoboken, New Jersey, United States: Wiley Publishing, →ISBN, →LCCN, page 554:
   • Tunick gave them his duress password, and Federal agents unknowingly wiped his phone. 2026 July 25, Jason Weisberger, “Border agents entered his password. His phone erased itself. Now he faces a felony”, in BoingBoing, retrieved 25 Jul 2026:
   • It may happen that someone is forced to enter his ATM password because a criminal is pressing a gun to his head. In this case the victim could enter a duress password which informs the police unnoticed, while providing the cash. A duress password could be a reversed pin code or any other duress mechanism such as an additional # sign. 2010, Eugeen A. Matthys, “16. IS – User authentication”, in Business Continuity Management, →ISBN:
   • A primary weapon in such cases is the duress password. This is a special password, which, when typed or otherwise supplied, indicates to the recipient that it is being entered under duress and that assistance should be silently summoned. [2006 April 24, Robert Schifreen, Defeating the Hacker: A Non-technical Guide to Computer Security, Wiley Publishing, →ISBN, page 42:
   • Another safety feature is the use of duress passwords. When a user is under duress, such as when held at gunpoint and told to use a computer system, a duress password instead of a regular password can be entered. 1983, Data Processing Digest, volume 29, page 22:
   • Because a duress password may be employed when an individual user's safety is endangered (such as when an industrial spy has a gun to a user's head), it is advisable to have system access provided. The duress password is a convenient way for the user to tip-off the system operators on duty or other people that something serious is happening. 1997, Charles Cresson Wood, Information Security Policies Made Easy A Comprehensive Set of Information Security Policies, 6 edition, Baseline Software, →ISBN, page 46:

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