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What is the Password Paradox?

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The password paradox is when an organization's requirements for a strong password leads users to poor security practices such as writing passwords down or reusing passwords. The following are common examples.

Complex Passwords

A password policy that requires long, complex passwords including things such as upper case, lower case, special characters and numbers makes it more likely that users will write passwords down or forget them and need to call customer support. This isn't necessarily bad, as writing a password in one physically secure place may be safer than using a weak password. A trusted password management tool that stores passwords in a strong encrypted format is perhaps helpful.

Password Change Policy

In the past, it was common for systems to require users to change passwords frequently. As this interrupts the flow of a user's task they are more likely to choose a weak password as they are motivated to continue.
Overview: Password Paradox
Type
Definition
When a password policy intended to strengthen security ends up encouraging users to write passwords down, reuse passwords or choose weak passwords.
Related Concepts

Information Security

This is the complete list of articles we have written about information security.
Audit Trail
Canary Trap
Confidential Information
Critical Infrastructure
Cryptographic Keys
Cryptographic Salt
Cryptography
Cybersecurity Risk
Data Breach
Data Remanence
Data Room
Data Security
Deep Magic
Defense In Depth
Degaussing
Digital Identity
Failure Of Imagination
Geofencing
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Honeypot
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Key Stretching
Network Security
Non-repudiation
Nonce
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Overlay Network
Password Entropy
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Proof Of Work
Sandbox
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Security As A Service
Security Controls
Zero-day
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