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Research Article
Generating and remembering passwords
Article first published online: 15 JUN 2004
DOI: 10.1002/acp.1014
Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
1099-0720/asset/cover.gif?v=1&s=8845e8a20556489e7762289f53f30058df4d21c0 "Applied Cognitive Psychology")
Additional Information
How to Cite
Brown, A. S., Bracken, E., Zoccoli, S. and Douglas, K. (2004), Generating and remembering passwords. Appl. Cognit. Psychol., 18: 641–651. doi: 10.1002/acp.1014
Publication History
- Issue published online: 27 AUG 2004
- Article first published online: 15 JUN 2004
- Abstract
- References
- Cited By
Abstract
A survey evaluating the generation and use of passwords revealed that students have 8.18 password uses. With 4.45 different passwords to cover these functions, the average password has 1.84 applications. Two thirds of passwords are designed around one's personal characteristics, with most of the remainder relating to relatives, friends or lovers. Proper names and birthdays are the primary information used in constructing passwords, accounting for about half of all password constructions. Almost all respondents reuse passwords, and about two thirds of password uses are duplications. Passwords have been forgotten by a third of respondents, and over half keep a written record of them. We found empirical confirmation of some ‘bad password practices’ discussed in the literature, and provide suggestions for password construction and use. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
