Assessment of current practices in creating and using passwords as a control mechanism for information access
Date
2007-06
Authors
Wessels, P. L.
Steenkamp, L. P.
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
AOSIS OpenJournals
Abstract
One of the critical issues in managing information within an organization is to ensure that
proper controls exist and are applied in allowing people access to information. Passwords are
used extensively as the main control mechanism to identify users wanting access to systems,
applications, data files, network servers or personal information. In this article, the issues
involved in selecting and using passwords are discussed and the current practices employed
by users in creating and storing passwords to gain access to sensitive information are
assessed. The results of this survey conclude that information managers cannot rely only on
users to employ proper password control in order to protect sensitive information.
Description
The original article is available at http://www.sajim.co.za/
Keywords
Data protection, Computer security, Computer networks -- Security measures, Computers -- Access control -- Passwords
Citation
Wessels, P.L. & Steenkamp, L.P. 2007. Assessment of current practices in creating and using passwords as a control mechanism for information access. South African Journal of Information Management, 9(2):1-14.