Quantifying the quality of web authentication mechanisms

Renaud, K. (2004) Quantifying the quality of web authentication mechanisms. Journal of Web Engineering, 3(2), pp. 95-123.

Abstract

Users wishing to use secure computer systems or web sites are required to authenticate themselves. Users are usually required to supply a user identification and to authenticate themselves to prove that they are indeed the person they claim to be. The authenticator of choice in the web environment is the simple password. Since the advent of the web the proliferation of secure systems has placed an unacceptable burden on users to recall increasing numbers of passwords that are often infrequently used. This paper will review the research into different types of authentication mechanisms, including simple passwords, and propose a mechanism for quantifying the quality of different authentication mechanisms to support an informed choice for web site administrators.

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Renaud, Professor Karen
• Authors: Renaud, K.
• College/School: College of Science and Engineering > School of Computing Science
• Journal Name: Journal of Web Engineering
• ISSN: 1540-9589