Abstract: One embodiment of the present invention provides a system that implements a pluggable password obscuring mechanism. During operation, the system receives a request to obscure a password to produce an obscured version of the password. If the request specifies a customized technique for obscuring the password, the system loads a dynamic library that performs the customized technique, and then uses the dynamic library to obscure the password. If the request does not specify a customized technique, the system uses a default technique to obscure the password. In this way, the customized technique for obscuring the password can be used without having to modify source code.