Name: What’s wrong with your pa$$w0rd?
Uploaded: 2014-06-24T15:04:41Z
Duration: 17 min 27 s
Description: Lorrie Faith Cranor studied thousands of real passwords to figure out the surprising, very common mistakes that users -- and secured sites -- make to compromise security. And how, you may ask, did she study thousands of real passwords without compromising the security of any users? That's a story in itself. It's secret data worth knowing, especially if your password is 123456 ...

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Security Blanket

Lorrie Faith Cranor: What’s wrong with your pa$$w0rd?

What’s wrong with your pa$$w0rd?

Lorrie Faith Cranor studied thousands of real passwords to figure out the surprising, very common mistakes that users -- and secured sites -- make to compromise security. And how, you may ask, did she study thousands of real passwords without compromising the security of any users? That's a story in itself. It's secret data worth knowing, especially if your password is 123456 ...

Most people reuse passwords, a habit that leaves accounts far more vulnerable than simply writing them down. Studies show that long passwords are often more memorable and just as strong as complex ones, but many still choose weak, easy-to-guess themes. Even popular solutions like password meters and pass phrases have mixed results, revealing that human habits and emotions shape security choices in surprising ways.