Is memorizing passwords the easiest way to manage them?

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This was one of the questions we had when we decided to work with the good folks at Harris Interactive to survey 2,030 U.S. consumers on their password habits. We had many other questions as well, all of which generated a rich set of insights we’re publishing here starting today.

And the answer?

The most common way consumers use manage passwords is simply their memory (63 percent). Two-in-five say that they write them down on paper, while one-quarter allow their browser to save their passwords for them. Only eight percent use a password manager product.

How consumers manage password

 

The fact that most consumers really have no system to manage their accounts other than memory or pen and paper suggests these methods are easier than any tool available. This is what we set out to change with Password Boss.

Despite this, the majority of consumers (54 percent) admit that they need to change their password habits. The survey also found that 59 percent admit to reusing passwords because it is too hard to remember them.

PWB_PRinfographics_reuse

 

The press release we issued yesterday has some interesting demographic breakdowns of the survey by age, marital status and household income.

What does this suggest?

In general, consumers are very passive and somewhat contradictory when it comes to the management of their online account passwords, despite the increasingly large and disruptive impact that data breaches have on consumers’ lives. Our mission is to help consumers change their password habits with the easiest-to-use app for anyone that has trouble remembering their passwords.

You can start by downloading Password Boss for free today.

And please subscribe to our blog as we will share more of the survey results in the coming weeks.