New Interaction with Pass mark.

What Is PassMark?

PassMark Security is a new security feature, in addition to the ID and password authentication currently being used. The PassMark Security solution meets the guidance released in October 2005 by the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council (FFIEC), which specifically states that financial institutions regulated by FFIEC agencies should move beyond a single factor password authentication (user ID and password).

The PassMark Security solution provides Two-Factor, Two-Way Authentication ™ as part of its layered online security system: Two-Factor because it identifies the user's computer hardware as a second factor of authentication, and Two-Way because it authenticates the user to the site and the site to the user.

This means that once a user sets up his or her PassMark™ at the site, at login, the system will verify the user's computer in addition to the user's ID and password. The user will also verify the site by confirming his or her PassMark™ image and caption are properly presented on the password page. Users will have a greater degree of confidence that they are visiting an authentic site and avoid scams like phishing.
Where Is My Password?

This financial institution has implemented a new security system. The password field has been moved to a password page, separate from the login screen. The password page will display your PassMark™ (once you have enrolled in the PassMark system).
Why Is The Password Here?

The password has been removed from the login screen you are used to and has been moved to a separate page which should display your PassMark™.
Forgot Your PassMark™

If you have forgotten your PassMark™ image and/or image caption, please contact your system administrator. Your system administrator will reset your PassMark account and allow you to choose new PassMark information.

Note: If you think your PassMark™ is inaccurate you should not provide your password information. Your PassMark™ is designed to ensure your security by demonstrating that our site is trusted, so if you have any doubt about the accuracy of your PassMark™ image and/or image caption please contact us before attempting to log in.
Forgot Your Password

Please contact your system administrator.
Incorrect PassMark™

If the PassMark™ image and/or image caption that displays on the password page is incorrect, please contact your system administrator immediately.

Your system administrator will reset your PassMark account and allow you to choose new PassMark information, and will investigate the Incorrect PassMark™ issue to determine its cause.

Note: If you think your PassMark™ is inaccurate you should not provide your password information. Your PassMark™ is designed to ensure your security by demonstrating that our site is trusted, so if you have any doubt about the accuracy of your PassMark™ image and/or image caption please contact us before attempting to log in.

External Links

For more information on PassMark Security, visit: http://www.passmarksecurity.com/solutions
or
http://www.passmarksecurity.com/resources/ffiec.html

For more information on please visit the Federal Financial Institutions Examination Council site: www.ffiec.gov/pdf/authentication_guidance.pdf

Frustrating user experience = Loosing Customers

International calls has become cheaper these days from USA. Usually, when ever I call India, I use Reliance's service ( reliance is India's largest private information and communication services provider). Reliance charges 12.99 cents for a minute. And every month I spend average of $70 to $90.

Yesterday I wanted to call someone who are in India & my friends told me about the Airtel's Deal. Airtel (India's leading provider of telecommunications services) has recently started long distance telephone services. Their rates are 7.99 cents and also their deals are "Get double talktime on sign up and first recharge". so charge for $50 and you will get $50 free. So Its 3.99 cents a minute. Airtel is much cheaper rate than competitor Reliance. I had to call some body in another 10 minutes of time in India. So in the mean time I wanted to check Airtel India call plan in their website www.airtel.co.in . And I logged into Airtels website and tried registering. It was very difficult to register and got frustated and decided to call India through Reliance service (even though charges are 75% more) and recharged for $10.

Why do I pay more for the same service and why did I got frustated in registering in airtel site. Since I browse lots of webstis and I register in most of the site I visit, I have never read the password guidelines. So I Keep on tried register 5 times, and error message showed as password do not match. Then clicked at the password help & it was much more confusing.

This is the best example of how the user gets frustated with a bad password guidelines. It took nearly 12 minutes for the incomplete registration. Below shown screenshot is the confusing password guidelines in airtel site.

Yahoo!, Google, MSN, ebay, citibank, aol - also provide secured websites. None of these sites force any password guidelines to users. Guidelines no.1 says 8 is the minimum character, but generally 6 is the common across many sites. 3-4-5-6 are totally strange.

Airtel's phone service is targeted to NRI and who mostly live in USA. And most of them are computer, bank and medical professions. They type of users has set of browsing patterns. All these users will have access common websites like yahoo, msn, google, ebay, hotmail etc login.

• So all users have behaviour of having 6 or more characters in passwords.


• These users generally use alpha numeric.


• Some people use special characters


• These users will have multiple accounts and they have to manage n number of passwords.


• Most of the accounts will have same passwords


• Its important to have commonly used guidelines to remember the passwords.

New methods & innovations should gel with the user behaviour and it should have life to it.

"Design Life" - Remember passwords

Drafted on Jan 18th 2006.

If you forget a password, we click forgot password to retrieve it. What about having a link called "Remember Password"? How about giving an facility or option or for the user to remembering a password as per their personality & interest.

Rachismo says, "I am very confused about the number of password I need to remember every time whenever I register at a new site. I need to think of a password related to the particular website or I need to maintain a simple password which I can remember. Most of the time my password is Alphabetic, some time alphanumeric. Sometime I become irritated when the application says password is wrong, because I mistakenly pressed caps on and many time I felt that my password is case sensitive when system throwed the alert"

These are one of the feedbacks generally any one get who do a contextual inquiry on this subject.

Password has become part and parcel of our day-to-day life, starting from our ATM Pin number, email, bank transactions & more & more...

Why are we in trouble remembering the passwords? Why people forget? Why good Memory?

Let’s take an another scenario, a person accessing a application for a first time, lets say Subismo. First time while signing up any service, Subismo always keeps the password which is closer to his mind. Most of the time Subismo’s password resembles his boyfriend name, friends name, favourite actors name and dog name. When Submismo’s registers with more & more websites or his list of password will increase and it will be as boyfriendname123, 123boyfriendname, boyfriendname_123 and less combinations like this. When the password lists become more and more, he badly in need of help of someone who can remember his password, so he registers it in a personal diary or mobile phone or to any of his email account. He will be safe until he don’t forget his email password again.

Now there is a basic question, which needs to be resolved by end of the paper. First Question is, does system will help us to remember the password our or (second question) we request & practice our brain & mind to remember and retrieve while needed.

Passwords are made more for the convenience of the machine than the human. Even novice hackers crack the password created by machines.

Advanced users use special characters in their passwords, like 1 @ # $ % .

Examples of insecure passwords:
• scorpix
• jackson7
• 52058507
• rkakjkekskhk

Examples of secure passwords:
• (*Scorp*)
• Jack-!-
• Play%*


Why people forget?
Many time even expert users tend to forget the passwords, because the expert user is trying to make the machine comfortable, but not him. Special characters are not used as per the human mental model.

********** Memory **********

Why good Memory?
(Knowledge & memory; Memory--Work-effectiveness and achievements,
interpersonal relations)

Dynamics of Memory (To Register, Retain & Recall)

Absentmindedness (Down-to-Earth techniques to overcome the problem)

Memory Objects Technique, Story-related Memory Technique

Memory Percentage
(To quantitatively measure memory percentage a scientific method)

*** Memory-Courtesy: wikipedia

As the technology is growing in one side & great hackers are in deep pressure on hacking the system & the passwords of the loved one or hatred on other side.

• Controlling it with system.

As Forgot Password, lets keep a option called remember password. In remember password -> ask for his interest -> customize the interest depending on his age, sex, demography and culture > user can select an interest, let say soccer, football, or sex. once he select the interest type - show the password in pictoral or story telling methods.

If you are interested in sports:

Examples:

~ Surfing
@ Bowling
% Table tennis
^ Bommerang
& Jump Hurdle
_ Skateboarding
: Carroms
” Relay Run
- Puck (ice hockey)
= Stepper (gymnasium)
\/ Pinball
; Gymnasium
. Football

If John Doe is interested in Pinball, \/ can be added.

There should be a system which will suit users life.

Passwords should have life to it. User should give life to their password to make it secured and strong. But its very difficult to change each and every human being to give life to the password.

SYSTEM SHOULD TAKE CARE OF THIS. And that's the core idea of human computer interactions is.