Study Publisher: Ponemon Institute
Study Date: March 2006
Study URL: http://www.csoonline.com/read/030106/ponemon.html

Study Overview:
Ponemon Institute surveyed adults (18 years of age and older) across all major regions of the United States. The Web-based survey was sent to 7,678 individuals. They received 590 responses and rejected 51 for reliability purposes. The final sample was 539 respondents.

Statistics From This Study:

• Almost everyone prefers optional password use rather than mandatory
• Forgetfulness forces most users to request a password or PIN reset
• Number of passwords or PINs people must currently remember
• Password resets are required regularly for most users
• People are split on whether the government should regulate businesses to require password-based authentication
• People prefer flexibility in their options for authentication
• People prefer to authenticate for account access with facts rather than passwords
• Tolerance levels on the pieces of information required to verify your identity