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Module Monday: Mass Password Reset

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It's a question we all ask ourselves: What would I do if my site or server was compromised? Security professionals have loads of checklists to follow, and experienced server administrators drill for those moments. As we saw when Twitter.com was recently compromised by hackers, "Reset everyone's passwords, right away!" is almost always one of the important steps. If you run a Drupal site, that particular step can be frustrating. Resetting user passwords one by one is incredibly time consuming, and there's no way to do it for everyone in one fell swoop. At least, there wasn't until the release of the Mass Password Reset moduleā€¦

Screenshot of administration screen

This recently-released module gives administrators a simple, straightforward admin page where they can reset every user's password with a single click. Notification emails can optionally be sent out to each user, just as if they'd requested the password reset themselves. (If you're using the module as part of the response to an actual security incident, it's probably a good idea to modify the standard password reset email before you click the "reset" button -- explaining why they've been reset is important, and unfortunately the module doesn't let you override it right from its bulk reset screen.) You can also choose to reset the root administrator's password (User 1 on the Drupal site), though the option is disabled by default.

There are a few situations in which you'd want to issue a mass password reset in calmer times. Just before launch, for example, you might want to ensure that a large batch of users migrated from another system all select new, secure passwords. For the most part, though, Mass Password Reset is a good tool to keep in your back pocket for a time when you need it. Hopefully you won't, but it's great to have when you do.

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