a survey of passwords from 2007 to 2009
Passwords have been an integral part of our lives for hundreds of years. We rely on passwords each day at work, school and at the marketplace. With the reliance on passwords comes the issue of security. Are the passwords we use secure? This study evaluates passwords for sixty-nine websites over a two-year period. Changes in password strength and requirements are analyzed and presented. Detailed information is given on the complexity or lack thereof that exists between these websites. Additionally we discuss how we believe passwords and password requirements will change in the future. Overall, we found that password requirements are stronger now than they were in 2007. However, organizations have a long way to go to bring password requirements up to what is generally considered a strong password.
passwords security requirements authentication computer security e-commerce