Instructions for Creating Passwords: How do They Help in Password Creation

User instructions in the form of password policy or creation suggestion play an important role in helping users understand and comply with the requirements of a password creation system (PCS). Current implementations of user instructions are very varied and may cause users confusion as they move from one PCS to another which can in turn affect their password choice. Therefore, this paper investigates what kinds of instructions are provided by PCSs to support users in creating passwords and how the most frequently used instructions affect users’ password creation behaviour. An analysis of a total of 95 instructions were extracted from 27 PCSs was undertaken. Based on this analysis, an online study with 117 respondents investigated how the most frequently used instructions affect users’ password creation behaviour. The results revealed that current implementations of user instructions for password policy and creation suggestion in the PCSs do not match users’ need in creating passwords. Users prefer declarative policy before they interact with a PCS. However, they prefer procedural policy during and after their interaction with a PCS. For creation suggestions, users prefer declarative suggestions before, during and after interaction with a PCS.

Content

Author and article information

Contributors

Saja Althubaiti

Helen Petrie

Conference

Publication date: July 2017

Publication date (Print): July 2017

Pages: 1-10

Affiliations

[0001]Human Computer Interaction Research Group

Department of Computer Science

University of York, York UK YO10 5GH

Article

DOI: 10.14236/ewic/HCI2017.55

SO-VID: 94c90ecf-33d9-47a2-88db-7e56412978c4

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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 Unported License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Conference name: Electronic Visualisation and the Arts (EVA 2017)

Conference acronym: EVA

Conference number:

Conference location: London, UK

Conference date: 11 – 13 July 2017

Conference sponsor: Electronic Workshops in Computing (eWiC)

Conference theme: Electronic Visualisation and the Arts

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1477-9358 BCS Learning & Development

Self URI (article page): https://www.scienceopen.com/hosted-document?doi=10.14236/ewic/HCI2017.55

Self URI (journal page): https://ewic.bcs.org/

References

Alexa Internet The top 500 sites on the web Alexa. Available at http://www.alexa.com/topsites February 1 2016
R. BiddleS. ChiassonP.C. Van Oorschot 2012 Graphical passwords: Learning from the first twelve years ACM Computing Surveys (CSUR) 44 19
A.S. Brown et al 2004 Generating and remembering passwords Applied Cognitive Psychology 18 6 641 651
J. CarrollR. Mack 1984 Learning to use a word processor: By doing, by thinking, and by knowing Human factors in computer systems
D. FlorencioC. Herley 2007 A large-scale study of web password habits In Proceedings of the 16th international conference on World Wide Web - WWW '07. New York, New York, USA ACM Press 657
B. GrawemeyerH. Johnson 2011 Using and managing multiple passwords: A week to a view Interacting with computers 23 3 256 267
A.K. JainA. Kumar 2012 Biometric recognition: an overview E. MordiniD. Tzovaras Second Generation Biometrics: The Ethical, Legal and Social Context Springer 49 79
J. KarremanN. UmmelenM. Steehouder 2005 Procedural and declarative information in user instructions: What we do and don't know about these information types Conference
M.A. SasseS. BrostoffD. Weirich 2001 Transforming the ‘weakest link'—a human/computer interaction approach to usable and effective security BT technology journal 19 122 131
E.E. SmithL. Goodman 1984 Understanding Written Instructions: The Role of an Explanatory Schema Cognition and Instruction 1 4 359 396
J. SwellerP. Chandler 1991 Evidence for cognitive load theory Cognition and Instruction 8 4 351 362
L. TamM. GlassmanM. Vandenwauver 2010 The psychology of password management: a tradeoff between security and convenience Behaviour and Information Technology 29 3 233 244
N. Ummelen 1997 Procedural and declarative information in software manuals: Effects on information use, task performance and knowledge Rodopi

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Comment on this article

[1] Alexa Internet The top 500 sites on the web Alexa. Available at http://www.alexa.com/topsites February 1 2016

[2] R. BiddleS. ChiassonP.C. Van Oorschot 2012 Graphical passwords: Learning from the first twelve years ACM Computing Surveys (CSUR) 44 19

[3] A.S. Brown et al 2004 Generating and remembering passwords Applied Cognitive Psychology 18 6 641 651

[4] J. CarrollR. Mack 1984 Learning to use a word processor: By doing, by thinking, and by knowing Human factors in computer systems

[5] D. FlorencioC. Herley 2007 A large-scale study of web password habits In Proceedings of the 16th international conference on World Wide Web - WWW '07. New York, New York, USA ACM Press 657

[6] B. GrawemeyerH. Johnson 2011 Using and managing multiple passwords: A week to a view Interacting with computers 23 3 256 267

[7] A.K. JainA. Kumar 2012 Biometric recognition: an overview E. MordiniD. Tzovaras Second Generation Biometrics: The Ethical, Legal and Social Context Springer 49 79

[8] J. KarremanN. UmmelenM. Steehouder 2005 Procedural and declarative information in user instructions: What we do and don't know about these information types Conference

[9] M.A. SasseS. BrostoffD. Weirich 2001 Transforming the ‘weakest link'—a human/computer interaction approach to usable and effective security BT technology journal 19 122 131

[10] E.E. SmithL. Goodman 1984 Understanding Written Instructions: The Role of an Explanatory Schema Cognition and Instruction 1 4 359 396

[11] J. SwellerP. Chandler 1991 Evidence for cognitive load theory Cognition and Instruction 8 4 351 362

[12] L. TamM. GlassmanM. Vandenwauver 2010 The psychology of password management: a tradeoff between security and convenience Behaviour and Information Technology 29 3 233 244

[13] N. Ummelen 1997 Procedural and declarative information in software manuals: Effects on information use, task performance and knowledge Rodopi

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