The results of the password security survey conducted among students at the Polish Naval Academy in 2018.
The survey was conducted at all faculties, both among military and civil students, both among Polish students (460 questionnaires) and foreign (50 questionnaires) as part of the diploma thesis.
1. The first group of questions concerns general issues related to passwords.
Do you use the same password on different websites?
| Answer | Number of answers | ||
| code | meaning | quantity | percentage |
| T | YES | 257 | 55.87 % |
| N | NO | 203 | 44.13 % |
How many unique passwords do you have to protect your Internet accounts/profiles?
| Answer | Number of answers | ||
| code | meaning | quantity | percentage |
| =1 | =1 | 29 | 6.30 % |
| 2-3 | 2-3 | 237 | 51.52 % |
| 4-5 | 4-5 | 130 | 28.26 % |
| 6- | 6- | 64 | 13.91 % |
Have you ever thought about the safety of your Internet passwords?
| Answer | Number of answers | ||
| code | meaning | quantity | percentage |
| T | YES | 338 | 73.48 % |
| N | NO | 122 | 26.52 % |
2. The second group of questions concerns the level of difficulty for passwords belonging to particular categories.
Set the level of difficulty of the password you use (or you would use) for the following categories of Internet services: Financial services for example Internet banks
| Answer | Number of answers | ||
| code | meaning | quantity | percentage |
| 1 | Very weak | 2 | 0.43 % |
| 2 | Weak | 4 | 0.87 % |
| 3 | Medium | 42 | 9.13 % |
| 4 | Strong | 135 | 29.35 % |
| 5 | Very strong | 277 | 60.22 % |
Set the level of difficulty of the password you use (or you would use) for the following categories of Internet services: Social networks for example Facebook
| Answer | Number of answers | ||
| code | meaning | quantity | percentage |
| 1 | Very weak | 3 | 0.65 % |
| 2 | Weak | 20 | 4.35 % |
| 3 | Medium | 118 | 25.65 % |
| 4 | Strong | 218 | 47.39 % |
| 5 | Very strong | 101 | 21.96 % |
Set the level of difficulty of the password you use (or you would use) for the following categories of Internet services: Access to email for example Gmail
| Answer | Number of answers | ||
| code | meaning | quantity | percentage |
| 1 | Very weak | 6 | 1.30 % |
| 2 | Weak | 23 | 5.00 % |
| 3 | Medium | 116 | 25.22 % |
| 4 | Strong | 206 | 44.78 % |
| 5 | Very strong | 109 | 23.70 % |
Set the level of difficulty of the password you use (or you would use) for the following categories of Internet services: Entertainment services for example Netflix
| Answer | Number of answers | ||
| code | meaning | quantity | percentage |
| 1 | Very weak | 17 | 3.70 % |
| 2 | Weak | 48 | 10.43 % |
| 3 | Medium | 173 | 37.61 % |
| 4 | Strong | 156 | 33.91 % |
| 5 | Very strong | 66 | 14.35 % |
Set the level of difficulty of the password you use (or you would use) for the following categories of Internet services: Electronic commerce services for example Amazon
| Answer | Number of answers | ||
| code | meaning | quantity | percentage |
| 1 | Very weak | 13 | 2.83 % |
| 2 | Weak | 26 | 5.65 % |
| 3 | Medium | 140 | 30.43 % |
| 4 | Strong | 171 | 37.17 % |
| 5 | Very strong | 110 | 23.91 % |
All above presented results on one figure (from left to right):
- Financial services
- Social networks
- Access to email
- Entertainment services
- Electronic commerce
3. The third group of questions concerns a subjective opinion on the strength of passwords.
Password strenght 1467234690
| Answer | Number of answers | ||
| code | meaning | quantity | percentage |
| 1 | Very weak | 44 | 9.57 % |
| 2 | Weak | 93 | 20.22 % |
| 3 | Medium | 162 | 35.22 % |
| 4 | Strong | 120 | 26.09 % |
| 5 | Very strong | 41 | 8.91 % |
Password strenght 19860425
| Answer | Number of answers | ||
| code | meaning | quantity | percentage |
| 1 | Very weak | 55 | 11.96 % |
| 2 | Weak | 140 | 30.43 % |
| 3 | Medium | 168 | 36.52 % |
| 4 | Strong | 76 | 16.52 % |
| 5 | Very strong | 21 | 4.57 % |
Password strenght zxcvbn12
| Answer | Number of answers | ||
| code | meaning | quantity | percentage |
| 1 | Very weak | 16 | 3.48 % |
| 2 | Weak | 77 | 16.74 % |
| 3 | Medium | 155 | 33.70 % |
| 4 | Strong | 152 | 33.04 % |
| 5 | Very strong | 60 | 13.04 % |
Password strenght Q2W3E4R5
| Answer | Number of answers | ||
| code | meaning | quantity | percentage |
| 1 | Very weak | 18 | 3.91 % |
| 2 | Weak | 87 | 18.91 % |
| 3 | Medium | 160 | 34.78 % |
| 4 | Strong | 142 | 30.87 % |
| 5 | Very strong | 53 | 11.52 % |
Password strenght qazwsxed
| Answer | Number of answers | ||
| code | meaning | quantity | percentage |
| 1 | Very weak | 39 | 8.48 % |
| 2 | Weak | 126 | 27.39 % |
| 3 | Medium | 190 | 41.30 % |
| 4 | Strong | 86 | 18.70 % |
| 5 | Very strong | 19 | 4.13 % |
Password strenght KasiaNowak
| Answer | Number of answers | ||
| code | meaning | quantity | percentage |
| 1 | Very weak | 348 | 75.65 % |
| 2 | Weak | 75 | 16.30 % |
| 3 | Medium | 24 | 5.22 % |
| 4 | Strong | 5 | 1.09 % |
| 5 | Very strong | 8 | 1.74 % |
Password strenght K@$i@N0w@k
| Answer | Number of answers | ||
| code | meaning | quantity | percentage |
| 1 | Very weak | 35 | 7.61 % |
| 2 | Weak | 94 | 20.43 % |
| 3 | Medium | 107 | 23.26 % |
| 4 | Strong | 141 | 30.65 % |
| 5 | Very strong | 83 | 18.04 % |
Password strenght KawonAisak
| Answer | Number of answers | ||
| code | meaning | quantity | percentage |
| 1 | Very weak | 65 | 14.13 % |
| 2 | Weak | 173 | 37.61 % |
| 3 | Medium | 171 | 37.17 % |
| 4 | Strong | 44 | 9.57 % |
| 5 | Very strong | 7 | 1.52 % |
Password strenght iwonka21
| Answer | Number of answers | ||
| code | meaning | quantity | percentage |
| 1 | Very weak | 196 | 42.61 % |
| 2 | Weak | 186 | 40.43 % |
| 3 | Medium | 61 | 13.26 % |
| 4 | Strong | 10 | 2.17 % |
| 5 | Very strong | 7 | 1.52 % |
Password strenght KarOlcia9
| Answer | Number of answers | ||
| code | meaning | quantity | percentage |
| 1 | Very weak | 119 | 25.87 % |
| 2 | Weak | 188 | 40.87 % |
| 3 | Medium | 119 | 25.87 % |
| 4 | Strong | 23 | 5.00 % |
| 5 | Very strong | 11 | 2.39 % |
Password strenght Aizuz1996!
| Answer | Number of answers | ||
| code | meaning | quantity | percentage |
| 1 | Very weak | 47 | 10.22 % |
| 2 | Weak | 154 | 33.48 % |
| 3 | Medium | 158 | 34.35 % |
| 4 | Strong | 76 | 16.52 % |
| 5 | Very strong | 25 | 5.43 % |
Password strenght RDE1095Ja
| Answer | Number of answers | ||
| code | meaning | quantity | percentage |
| 1 | Very weak | 8 | 1.74 % |
| 2 | Weak | 45 | 9.78 % |
| 3 | Medium | 152 | 33.04 % |
| 4 | Strong | 180 | 39.13 % |
| 5 | Very strong | 75 | 16.30 % |
Password strenght passw0rd
| Answer | Number of answers | ||
| code | meaning | quantity | percentage |
| 1 | Very weak | 167 | 36.30 % |
| 2 | Weak | 174 | 37.83 % |
| 3 | Medium | 87 | 18.91 % |
| 4 | Strong | 22 | 4.78 % |
| 5 | Very strong | 10 | 2.17 % |
Password strenght Q5!gH$?aWd
| Answer | Number of answers | ||
| code | meaning | quantity | percentage |
| 1 | Very weak | 6 | 1.30 % |
| 2 | Weak | 9 | 1.96 % |
| 3 | Medium | 29 | 6.30 % |
| 4 | Strong | 123 | 26.74 % |
| 5 | Very strong | 293 | 63.70 % |
Comparison of strength of passwords which belongs to particular group.
In the real survey, passwords belonging to the same group were not
one next to the other.
Group 1
The first group of passwords consists of numbers only: 19860425 (8-digits) and 1467234690 (10-digits).
Group 2
The second group of passwords consists of a combination of keys located close to each other on the keyboard : zxcvbn12, Q2W3E4R5, qazwsxed.
Group 3
The third group of passwords consists of string made only from first and last names in three different forms: KasiaNowak (name and surname), K@$i@N0w@k (name and surname enriched with LeetSpeek – exchange of selected letters for special characters), KawonAisak (name and last name is a reverse).
Grupa 4
The fourth group of passwords consists of name only, enriched with: digits iwonka21; uppercase letters and digitKarOlcia9; reverse, digits and special sign Aizuz1996!.