Developing Measurement Scales for Passwords Uniqueness and Secrecy

In 21st century, user authentication with the use of passwords represent a critical weakness in the security of online security. Research shows that individuals frequently engage in poor password hygiene behaviors, including choosing weak passwords, reusing passwords, writing down passwords, and facilitating password theft by not covering their keyboard or emailing passwords in clear text. Among these factors, password uniqueness and password secrecy are of great importance in maintaining password hygiene. Despite the importance of these factors, there are no rigorously-tested measurement scales in information security literature for these concepts; therefore, the goal of this research is to develop and empirically test two measurement scales for two key constructs in this context, namely password uniqueness and password secrecy. The results show acceptable reliability and validity of the developed measurement scales. The future steps for developing measurement scales for additional constructs relevant to this context are also explained