Password security: Password behavior analysis at a small university

Mohammed Awad; Zakaria Al-Qudah; Sahar Idwan; Abdul Halim Jallad

doi:10.1109/ICEDSA.2016.7818558

Password security: Password behavior analysis at a small university

Mohammed Awad, Zakaria Al-Qudah, Sahar Idwan, Abdul Halim Jallad

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution

5 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

No matter how sophisticated and advanced an organization's security system is, it remains vulnerable due to the human factor. In this paper, we conducted a survey to analyze the patterns used by the faculty, staff, and students when generating passwords at a small sized university. We found that users are not as aware of security requirements and practices as they think. Moreover, the vast majority of users' passwords are breakable within days or shorter. Interestingly, we found that using numbers and uppercase letters is common among users. However, numbers are mostly used at the end of the passwords and uppercase letters are mostly used at the beginning of passwords. The existence of such trends makes it easier for attackers to generate more effective dictionaries. Based on the analysis in this paper, we make recommendations to IT personnel and the general public to harden the security of their passwords.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	2016 5th International Conference on Electronic Devices, Systems and Applications, ICEDSA 2016
Publisher	IEEE Computer Society
ISBN (Electronic)	9781509053063
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1109/ICEDSA.2016.7818558
Publication status	Published - Jan 13 2017
Externally published	Yes
Event	5th International Conference on Electronic Devices, Systems and Applications, ICEDSA 2016 - Ras Al Khaimah, United Arab Emirates Duration: Dec 6 2016 → Dec 8 2016

Publication series

Name	International Conference on Electronic Devices, Systems, and Applications
ISSN (Print)	2159-2047
ISSN (Electronic)	2159-2055

Other

Other	5th International Conference on Electronic Devices, Systems and Applications, ICEDSA 2016
Country/Territory	United Arab Emirates
City	Ras Al Khaimah
Period	12/6/16 → 12/8/16

Keywords

Awareness
Password
Security
Strength

ASJC Scopus subject areas

Computer Science Applications
Hardware and Architecture
Software
Electrical and Electronic Engineering

Access to Document

10.1109/ICEDSA.2016.7818558

Cite this

Awad, M., Al-Qudah, Z., Idwan, S., & Jallad, A. H. (2017). Password security: Password behavior analysis at a small university. In 2016 5th International Conference on Electronic Devices, Systems and Applications, ICEDSA 2016 Article 7818558 (International Conference on Electronic Devices, Systems, and Applications). IEEE Computer Society. https://doi.org/10.1109/ICEDSA.2016.7818558

Password security: Password behavior analysis at a small university. / Awad, Mohammed; Al-Qudah, Zakaria; Idwan, Sahar et al.
2016 5th International Conference on Electronic Devices, Systems and Applications, ICEDSA 2016. IEEE Computer Society, 2017. 7818558 (International Conference on Electronic Devices, Systems, and Applications).

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding › Conference contribution

Awad, M, Al-Qudah, Z, Idwan, S & Jallad, AH 2017, Password security: Password behavior analysis at a small university. in 2016 5th International Conference on Electronic Devices, Systems and Applications, ICEDSA 2016., 7818558, International Conference on Electronic Devices, Systems, and Applications, IEEE Computer Society, 5th International Conference on Electronic Devices, Systems and Applications, ICEDSA 2016, Ras Al Khaimah, United Arab Emirates, 12/6/16. https://doi.org/10.1109/ICEDSA.2016.7818558

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Password security: Password behavior analysis at a small university

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Keywords

ASJC Scopus subject areas

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