Stop Password Masking

#1

Post by dcminter » Tue, Jun 23, 2009, 11:06 AM UTC

Re: Stop Password Masking

#2

Post by fb » Tue, Jun 23, 2009, 11:37 AM UTC

This guy must have been joking. The fact that HE always types his passwords alone in his office does not mean that any sane person would like a possibility that anyone ever has a chance to see his password. Apparently, some people are not always alone...

Re: Stop Password Masking

#3

Post by wyday » Tue, Jun 23, 2009, 11:37 AM UTC

Usually this guy's observations are spot on, but this is just wrong. For instance, every time I give a presentation I usually have to login to a secure site. I'm almost always plugged into an overhead projector while I'm logging in.

So, not only is this guy suggesting websites change their technology, he's also suggesting users modify their behavior to be more secure.

Not going to happen.

Re: Stop Password Masking

#4

Post by Tichy » Tue, Jun 23, 2009, 11:37 AM UTC

Isn't there also a thing that password form fields can't be read by Javascript?

Re: Stop Password Masking

#5

Post by reconbot » Tue, Jun 23, 2009, 11:43 AM UTC

Tichy wrote: post #4

Isn't there also a thing that password form fields can't be read by Javascript?

Nope, they can be - it's how things like SuperGenPass work. (Highly recommended btw)

Re: Stop Password Masking

#6

Post by Edinburger » Tue, Jun 23, 2009, 11:44 AM UTC

fb wrote: post #2

This guy must have been joking. The fact that HE always types his passwords alone in his office does not mean that any sane person would like a possibility that anyone ever has a chance to see his password. Apparently, some people are not always alone...

Yes, good luck to anyone in (a) an open-plan office or (b) an office with security cameras.

Re: Stop Password Masking

#7

Post by ciudilo » Tue, Jun 23, 2009, 11:44 AM UTC

This guy is just completely detached from real world...

Re: Stop Password Masking

#8

Post by chaosmachine » Tue, Jun 23, 2009, 11:45 AM UTC

Combine this with the "remember password" feature of most browsers, and you have a real problem.

Re: Stop Password Masking

#9

Post by lucastx » Tue, Jun 23, 2009, 11:55 AM UTC

I think it would be good if browsers came with an option to mask or don't mask passwords. But I don't know if it would work, since the users who would find and change that option would be the heavy users, that have almost no trouble with passwords.

If only that option could be easily showed and asked for simple users: a little icon within password boxes showing if it's masked or not, and a hotkey / click on the icon to toggle it on/off.

Re: Stop Password Masking

#10

Post by Deestan » Tue, Jun 23, 2009, 11:57 AM UTC

At least when setting or changing passwords, I would like an option to display them in clear text.

Slightly on-topic: I find it silly for a shopping website to display your complete credit card information in plain letters on screen, while masking your login password. The credit card info can be misused to empty your bank account, while the login password can be misused to ... what? Send obscene support requests and muck about with your digital shopping cart?