I wish this was the first question that everyone asked themselves before they happily enter their passwords whenever they are asked. Sadly, the reality is anything but.
So, what can we do to help the users make a sensible choice, and work out if it is safe to enter their password
- Awareness, Awareness, Awareness – Lets try and get the message through to everyone that their password is a key, and they must keep them safe and secure.
- Double Check – Look at the screen, check out the wording, if its a web page then make sure the URL is correct.
- If we are in a corporate environment, lets turn on all the branding we can to help the user identify that its a safe place to enter their password.
All of this is much easier said than done. Even if we are sure the message is out there, we can also guarantee that there will be times when we as a human forget, so seems we are just going to have to have a backup plan – technology…