The password is dead, long live the password – A laboratory study on user perceptions of authentication schemes
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Date
2020-01
Publication Type
Journal Article
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no
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Abstract
Password authentication is still ubiquitous although alternatives have been developed to overcome its shortcomings such as high cognitive load for users. Using an objective rating scheme Bonneau et al. (2012) demonstrated that replacing the password poses a quest that yet remains unsolved. To shine light on this intractable issue we turn towards subjective user perceptions that influence acceptance and actual use of authentication schemes. We first conducted an extensive rating of objective features of authentication schemes to inform our selection of schemes for this research. Building on the findings thereof, 41 users interacted with twelve different authentication schemes in a laboratory study. The participants’ ratings revealed that the password followed by fingerprint authentication scored highest in terms of preference, usability, intention to use and lowest in terms of expected problems and effort. Usability and effort seem to be important factors for users’ preference rating whereas security and privacy ratings were not correlated with preference. One reason for these factors to fall behind might be their opacity and the resulting difficulty to evaluate them from a user perspective. Further, security and usability perceptions deviated from objective factors and should therefore be carefully considered before making decisions in terms of authentication. Suggestions for making security and privacy features more tangible and to allow for an easier integration in the users’ decision process are discussed.
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Publication status
published
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Book title
Journal / series
Volume
133
Pages / Article No.
26 - 44
Publisher
Elsevier
Event
Edition / version
Methods
Software
Geographic location
Date collected
Date created
Subject
Authentication schemes; User persception; Rating; Security; Usability
Organisational unit
09775 - Zimmermann, Verena / Zimmermann, Verena
02045 - Dep. Geistes-, Sozial- u. Staatswiss. / Dep. of Humanities, Social and Pol.Sc.