A Study of Perceptions of Graphical Passwords

Depending on the graphical password schema, the key-space can be even bigger than alpha-numeric passwords. However, in conventional passwords, users will re-use letters within a password. This study investigates graphical passwords for symbol-reuse and finds that users do not re-use symbols with the same frequency as conventional passwords. The user-selected key-space for graphical passwords is smaller than theoretically expected. This study also reports on perceptions of graphical passwords: 52% of people do not support the use of graphical passwords within their organization. Furthermore, 57% of respondents do not support the use of such technology in their financial institutions.