by Alan Nelson
We all want to be different – or do we? A query about a recent learner registration has prompted us to look in more depth at the details people submit when registering for a course.
As a hosted solution, with over 150,000 users, we have to think carefully about how we control access. On the one hand, it is critical for some of our partners that they know for sure that there is no way anybody unauthorised could access either their course, or get into one of their users’ accounts by chancing on the same combination of details on the registration form. On the other hand we all know how irritating it is when you get that message:
The username “AlanNelson” is already in use. Have you considered instead using “AlanNelson428”?
Where are these 427 other Alan Nelsons? It doesn’t make you feel very special does it?
So we take very seriously striking the right balance between security and user friendliness. As part of reviewing our process, Tony, our Technical Director, generated a list of the top 30 most used passwords. What, you may ask, came top? Our users are all adult professional learners. They are a sophisticated bunch. They’ll have come up with some inventive ideas for their password. Not so I’m afraid. In fact, 492 of them, presumably after some consideration, have had the inspired idea of using the word “password” (don’t try it – we are in the process of adding it to the list of disallowed passwords).
By looking down the list I can identify other facts about our users:
- Liverpool are almost twice as popular as Arsenal and Chelsea (strangely, no one seems to like Crystal Palace)
- Amongst lazy people, “123456” is way more popular than “qwerty” – presumably finding the second row of keys is too much like hard work for some!
- A lot of people have a loved one – partner, son, pet – called Charlie (assuming they aren’t referring to their habit)
But my personal favourite was pointed out by Tony. I didn’t understand why so many people would have chosen “LETMEIN”, until he wrote it out differently: “Let me in”.
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