Analysis of the Security and Memorability of the Password Card

Choosing and remembering secure passwords poses a problem to users. The password card is a proposal intended to help users to cope with this problem. It is a paper card with a grid of random letters, numbers, and symbols, on which users choose a starting point and a walk of adjacent cells. The characters on the traversed cells form the new password. We analyze the security and memorability of passwords created this way. We find that users mostly choose predictable walks and starting points. At the same time, memorability of the passwords seems low. Thus, the password card seems to fail in helping users to choose and remember secure passwords.