MWAIS 2021 Proceedings

Abstract

Password reuse is a dangerous issue facing many users and their password-protected online accounts. When users fall into a habit of password reuse, they increase the risk of their accounts becoming compromised. We propose that the enforcement of a random character requirement during password generation will subdue the routine of reuse. Furthermore, to help users remember a required random character in their password, each user will be assigned an image which acts as a reminder of their random character. In this paper, we interview six participants and present them with eighteen images that each highlight a character or number association. Through the interview process we concluded that most participants would rather see numbers represented as plaintext in an image rather than counting a set of items. Additionally, we learned participants who utilize passphrases are less likely to find images as a helpful aid for required characters. Finally, we found users felt their image prompter was more secure when the image was busy, and they felt as though they knew a secret about the image.

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