Paper Type
Complete
Abstract
The literature shows that users struggle to generate secure passwords. This has led to systems administrators implementing password expiry policies that burden and frustrate users. This study explores the security and usability of a multilingual passphrase policy, as multilingualism has the potential to enhance security. A total of 224 participants were invited to participate in an experiment to generate and recall short passwords and multilingual passphrases. The findings of this study show that, although a multilingual passphrase policy made passphrase generation slightly more difficult, its use motivated users to generate unique memorable passphrases. Arguably, repeated use of passphrases promotes memorability and cognitive fluency. Furthermore, the multilingual passphrases in this study proved to be stronger than those reported in the literature.
Recommended Citation
Maoneke, Pardon Blessings; Flowerday, Stephen V.; and Warkentin, Merrill, "Evaluating the Usability of a Multilingual Passphrase Policy" (2020). AMCIS 2020 Proceedings. 19.
https://aisel.aisnet.org/amcis2020/info_security_privacy/info_security_privacy/19
Evaluating the Usability of a Multilingual Passphrase Policy
The literature shows that users struggle to generate secure passwords. This has led to systems administrators implementing password expiry policies that burden and frustrate users. This study explores the security and usability of a multilingual passphrase policy, as multilingualism has the potential to enhance security. A total of 224 participants were invited to participate in an experiment to generate and recall short passwords and multilingual passphrases. The findings of this study show that, although a multilingual passphrase policy made passphrase generation slightly more difficult, its use motivated users to generate unique memorable passphrases. Arguably, repeated use of passphrases promotes memorability and cognitive fluency. Furthermore, the multilingual passphrases in this study proved to be stronger than those reported in the literature.
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