I like what the wii and the android browser do, they show the last inputted character for a second or so
HalfMask - an Experiment in Password Masking
11–20 of 36 posts
Re: HalfMask - an Experiment in Password Masking
#12My idea is the best: reveal on mouseover
How about having to select the (masked) text, to take it a step further?
Re: HalfMask - an Experiment in Password Masking
#13Hey guys, I'm the author of HalfMask - please let me know if you have any feedback, or you can check out the source on google code: http://code.google.com/p/halfmask/ Forking to try new things is heartily encouraged - I'd like to see new approaches to password masking.
The masking characters need to be more similar to the characters being typed. eg. ll is easily readable with letters like nrs, etc. in the background.
Re: HalfMask - an Experiment in Password Masking
#14My idea is the best: reveal on mouseover
How about having to select the (masked) text, to take it a step further?
If you highlight this, it pretty much reveals what the password is.
I know that isn't what you're talking about, but it is close. I know that I couldn't read this even when I knew what I was typing until I highlighted it.
Re: HalfMask - an Experiment in Password Masking
#15Hey guys, I'm the author of HalfMask - please let me know if you have any feedback, or you can check out the source on google code: http://code.google.com/p/halfmask/ Forking to try new things is heartily encouraged - I'd like to see new approaches to password masking.
The masking characters need to be more similar to the characters being typed. eg. ll is easily readable with letters like nrs, etc. in the background.
This is a good thought - I had implemented character set matching (uppers to uppers, numbers, etc) before, but I worried that it made it almost too hard to read for the user.
You'll notice that I'm only using lowercase letters currently - that was an intentional choice as it seemed too obscured when using a fuller character set.
I'll give this another look though and see if there may be a good middle ground.
Re: HalfMask - an Experiment in Password Masking
#16Let me just say, as retarded as I think this whole masking kerfluffle is, play with it or don't play with it, but if you don't mask passwords in your login box, expect to spend $10,000-$20,000 extra to your PCI auditors (and then restore password masking) when you decide to accept credit cards.
Re: HalfMask - an Experiment in Password Masking
#17I like the idea.
But how about LCD screens where the angle changes everything?
Right now it's difficult to read from the side, but "a piece of cake" from above.
Re: HalfMask - an Experiment in Password Masking
#18well, the password can be copy pasted
Re: HalfMask - an Experiment in Password Masking
#19There is an argument in the whole masking argument that doesn't really have anything to do with security- it is that filling out a box and having the characters masked is a well known usability metaphor for users- implying the content should be kept hidden and implying (though it's not always true) that in the backend it is also kept secure. The metaphor comes from ATMs etc. All security aside, when the vast, vast majority of casual computer users finally have a computer metaphor nailed down it's usually very counterproductive to try to change it. Like trying to move the "File" menu to the far right of the menu bar for your next desktop app...
Re: HalfMask - an Experiment in Password Masking
#20Nice try, but I think this is the worst of both worlds. Still insecure in many situations (screencasts, presentations, or any time you might be recorded), and it's harder to character count than normal asterisks.