Despite all efforts, password schemes intended to deploy or encourage the use of strong passwords have largely failed. As an alternative to enable users to create, maintain, and use high-quality passwords willingly, we propose Object-based Password (ObPwd), leveraging the universe of personal or personally meaningful digital content that many users now own or have access to. ObPwd converts user-selected digital objects to high-entropy text passwords. Memorization of exact passwords is replaced by remembering password objects. We present the design details, variants, and usability and security analysis of ObPwd, and report on the results of a hybrid in-lab/at-home user study on 32 participants. The results suggest the scheme has good usability, with excellent memorability, acceptable login times, and very positive user perception, achieved while providing strong security for the threat context explored. We believe this work lays the foundation for a promising password selection paradigm.

Purpose While many papers discuss the privacy implications of workplace monitoring, the purpose of this paper is to describe the positive aspects to voluntary monitoring in the workplace. Design/methodology/approach These aspects were identified through in‐depth qualitative interviews with employees of various organizations chosen for the invasiveness of their monitoring procedures. Specifically, the authors worked with individuals who had high‐level government clearances, working in information security (infosec), who were subjected to comprehensive monitoring both before being employed and during the term of their employment. Findings Through these interviews, the paper identifies four positive results of employee monitoring, four procedural issues that affected employee perception of the monitoring, and two secondary aspects that are specific benefits of holding a clearance, as opposed to benefits from the monitoring itself. Research limitations/implications The research reported here is gathered from a specific sample: eight participants working at American infosec organizations. Thus, the results may not be widely generalizable to work environments, particularly for employees working in other countries where different monitoring requirements exist. Originality/value The contribution of this paper is the identification of positive aspects to voluntary monitoring as a condition of employment, the implication of which is that workplace monitoring can be deployed with positive results. The paper also identifies procedural aspects that organizations can address in order to improve employees' experience of being monitored. While preliminary, these results can be used to guide future research directions. Additionally, organizations that require employee monitoring can use these results to strengthen benefits to employees in compensation for their voluntary cooperation.

Groups collaborating around a large wall display can do so in a variety of arrangements, positioning themselves at different distances from the display and from each other. We examined the impact of proximity on the effectiveness and enjoyment of co-located collaboration. Our results revealed collaborative benefits when participants were positioned close together, and interaction with the display was felt to be more effective when participants were close to the display. However, clear tradeoffs were evident for these configurations. When at a distance to the display, the choice of direct versus indirect interaction revealed that interactions were easier when using direct input but the effectiveness of the collaboration was compromised.

Psychological research in the security arena has focused on understanding the attacker, with little work done on understanding the defender. This paper presents a pilot study undertaken to determine if there are trends within the defender community, or if we represent a more diverse group with varying approaches to the problem. We surveyed 76 security professionals, using the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator as a tool to indicate similarities and differences in problem approaches. We find that the security community consists disproportionately of INTJs, and is especially disproportionate in the intuitive end of the intuitive-sensing dichotomy. This is not only in contrast to the general population of the United States, but also to engineers, software engineers and computer scientists (who are predominately ISTJ). We conclude that homogeneity amongst the defenders may not be a good strategy, and that further study be undertaken to determine the extent and effect of this homogeneity.