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posted by mrpg on Friday June 18 2021, @09:00AM   Printer-friendly
from the 00aa23e67f100945c87d19e4012f dept.

WSJ: What Keeps People From Using Password Managers?

No pay wall: https://archive.is/HCtcT

Many of us are vulnerable to hackers and eager to secure our online accounts, but lots of us also refuse to use an obvious solution: password managers.

Why? Our research has found that the typical reassurances and promises about password managers just don’t work. Fortunately, our research also suggests there are strategies that can persuade people to get past the psychological barriers and keep their data safe.

[...] In a study I conducted with my Ph.D. student Norah Alkaldi, we found that the two most common methods of persuasion were ineffective in getting people to adopt password managers. The first is the “push” approach—the idea that by showing people the dangers of using simple passwords, recording passwords on their computer or using the same passwords at different sites, we would push them to adopt a safer approach. Users, we found, don’t respond to the push strategy.

[...] The other, “pull,” approach—focusing on the positives of password managers—didn’t deliver any better results.

[...] We discovered two types of “mooring factors” that keep people from changing their behavior.

[...] First, there was the effort required to enter all your passwords into the password manager.

[...] People also fear they will lose all their passwords if they forget their master password.


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  • (Score: 2) by Freeman on Friday June 18 2021, @03:35PM (1 child)

    by Freeman (732) Subscriber Badge on Friday June 18 2021, @03:35PM (#1146978) Journal

    Writing down your passwords is actually more secure in some ways as a random hacker on the internet has no way to see your notes. In the event that someone has physical access to your house / machine, you've already lost anyway. Still, it's pretty stupid to write down your password in a public work space, or even a "private" work space that is shared with your colleagues.

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  • (Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Sunday June 20 2021, @03:35PM

    by Anonymous Coward on Sunday June 20 2021, @03:35PM (#1147507)

    My password manager isn't accessible via the internet without me personally handing the encrypted database to a 3rd party. A cracker is not going to randomly break into my computer hoping to then break into my password database, that's far more work than compromising the sites I use or phishing for the credentials.