Survey PNA 2018

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?

AnswerNumber of answers
codemeaningquantitypercentage
TYES25755.87 %
NNO20344.13 %


How many unique passwords do you have to protect your Internet accounts/profiles?

AnswerNumber of answers
codemeaningquantitypercentage
=1=1296.30 %
2-32-323751.52 %
4-54-513028.26 %
6-6-6413.91 %


Have you ever thought about the safety of your Internet passwords?

AnswerNumber of answers
codemeaningquantitypercentage
TYES33873.48 %
NNO12226.52 %


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

AnswerNumber of answers
codemeaningquantitypercentage
1Very weak20.43 %
2Weak40.87 %
3Medium429.13 %
4Strong13529.35 %
5Very strong27760.22 %


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

AnswerNumber of answers
codemeaningquantitypercentage
1Very weak30.65 %
2Weak204.35 %
3Medium11825.65 %
4Strong21847.39 %
5Very strong10121.96 %


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

AnswerNumber of answers
codemeaningquantitypercentage
1Very weak61.30 %
2Weak235.00 %
3Medium11625.22 %
4Strong20644.78 %
5Very strong10923.70 %


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

AnswerNumber of answers
codemeaningquantitypercentage
1Very weak173.70 %
2Weak4810.43 %
3Medium17337.61 %
4Strong15633.91 %
5Very strong6614.35 %


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

AnswerNumber of answers
codemeaningquantitypercentage
1Very weak132.83 %
2Weak265.65 %
3Medium14030.43 %
4Strong17137.17 %
5Very strong11023.91 %

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

AnswerNumber of answers
codemeaningquantitypercentage
1Very weak449.57 %
2Weak9320.22 %
3Medium16235.22 %
4Strong12026.09 %
5Very strong418.91 %


Password strenght 19860425

AnswerNumber of answers
codemeaningquantitypercentage
1Very weak5511.96 %
2Weak14030.43 %
3Medium16836.52 %
4Strong7616.52 %
5Very strong214.57 %


Password strenght zxcvbn12

AnswerNumber of answers
codemeaningquantitypercentage
1Very weak163.48 %
2Weak7716.74 %
3Medium15533.70 %
4Strong15233.04 %
5Very strong6013.04 %


Password strenght Q2W3E4R5

AnswerNumber of answers
codemeaningquantitypercentage
1Very weak183.91 %
2Weak8718.91 %
3Medium16034.78 %
4Strong14230.87 %
5Very strong5311.52 %


Password strenght qazwsxed

AnswerNumber of answers
codemeaningquantitypercentage
1Very weak398.48 %
2Weak12627.39 %
3Medium19041.30 %
4Strong8618.70 %
5Very strong194.13 %


Password strenght KasiaNowak

AnswerNumber of answers
codemeaningquantitypercentage
1Very weak34875.65 %
2Weak7516.30 %
3Medium245.22 %
4Strong51.09 %
5Very strong81.74 %


Password strenght K@$i@N0w@k

AnswerNumber of answers
codemeaningquantitypercentage
1Very weak357.61 %
2Weak9420.43 %
3Medium10723.26 %
4Strong14130.65 %
5Very strong8318.04 %


Password strenght KawonAisak

AnswerNumber of answers
codemeaningquantitypercentage
1Very weak6514.13 %
2Weak17337.61 %
3Medium17137.17 %
4Strong449.57 %
5Very strong71.52 %


Password strenght iwonka21

AnswerNumber of answers
codemeaningquantitypercentage
1Very weak19642.61 %
2Weak18640.43 %
3Medium6113.26 %
4Strong102.17 %
5Very strong71.52 %


Password strenght KarOlcia9

AnswerNumber of answers
codemeaningquantitypercentage
1Very weak11925.87 %
2Weak18840.87 %
3Medium11925.87 %
4Strong235.00 %
5Very strong112.39 %


Password strenght Aizuz1996!

AnswerNumber of answers
codemeaningquantitypercentage
1Very weak4710.22 %
2Weak15433.48 %
3Medium15834.35 %
4Strong7616.52 %
5Very strong255.43 %


Password strenght RDE1095Ja

AnswerNumber of answers
codemeaningquantitypercentage
1Very weak81.74 %
2Weak459.78 %
3Medium15233.04 %
4Strong18039.13 %
5Very strong7516.30 %


Password strenght passw0rd

AnswerNumber of answers
codemeaningquantitypercentage
1Very weak16736.30 %
2Weak17437.83 %
3Medium8718.91 %
4Strong224.78 %
5Very strong102.17 %


Password strenght Q5!gH$?aWd

AnswerNumber of answers
codemeaningquantitypercentage
1Very weak61.30 %
2Weak91.96 %
3Medium296.30 %
4Strong12326.74 %
5Very strong29363.70 %


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!.

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