Questions tagged [security]
How an application is kept secure to prevent unauthorized access.
28
questions
70
votes
8
answers
81k
views
How to tell a user their login credentials are incorrect?
When a user has entered incorrect details into a login form, is it better to tell them:
The username or password you have entered is invalid.
or
The username you have entered is invalid (for ...
- 5,888
54
votes
10
answers
5k
views
What is the best way to inspire users to choose strong password?
Most of the users use weak passwords. They may use weak passwords even for services where they store sensitive information. I think it's because they don't believe that their password may be guessed/...
- 1,131
59
votes
10
answers
5k
views
Refusing a user permission to click a URL
I've been asked to work on a system message on an intranet where by there are various URLs (linking to lists of content) that have permission rights attached to them, so only certain users have access ...
- 2,154
50
votes
7
answers
11k
views
Showing "this is secure" on credit card entry screen
Should I show some sort of "this site is secure" puffery (e.g. lock image, or some brief "this site is secure" boilerplate) on my credit card payment screen? If so, what should it look like? If not, ...
- 613
40
votes
5
answers
6k
views
Does a password strength indicator increase password strength?
Just browsing the internet, I saw a password strength indicator on a sign up, and I realized that I personally didn't care. Does anyone know if, on average, password strength indicators increase the ...
- 823
30
votes
6
answers
3k
views
Forcing users to use a particular pattern for passwords
Many websites, specially government ones, enforce users to use a password which conforms to particular criteria. For example: use between 8-13 characters with at-least one integer and one capital ...
- 4,961
14
votes
6
answers
11k
views
Correct length for login timeout?
My company has created lots of computer software but one issue we have is with login timeouts.
Some developers want to make them shorter for security, while most users want it be infinite? Is there ...
- 423
13
votes
2
answers
3k
views
Why would one limit username format?
Many websites when ask you to create a new "username", will limit you in some way, most often like "username should only contain letters and underscores" or something alike.
This results in inability ...
- 253
8
votes
5
answers
1k
views
Forgotten Passwords - is there a real benefit to asking for memorable password hints on signup?
On several signup forms I see fields such as "Choose your Memorable Password Question". Is this actually benifical nowadays? Surely a more secure method if someone forgets their password is to build a ...
JonW♦
- 37.2k
103
votes
13
answers
16k
views
Should passwords expire?
I have a dispute with my partner. He comes from a financial software background but I do not. He recommends that our web app should expire user's passwords after 6 months (and it has to be unique each ...
- 941
55
votes
11
answers
10k
views
"Typocaptcha" - an alternative to CAPTCHA? [closed]
We all hate CAPTCHAs, but to some applications they're a necessary evil. Today I wondered if there's a better alternative we just haven't thought of yet. I considered the dilemma: how do you create ...
- 1,049
27
votes
9
answers
7k
views
How to handle "forgot password" when user has not confirmed email?
If you follow the pattern of allowing users access to your application without having confirmed an email (generally considered good UX), how do handle the case where they forgot their password? Very ...
- 271
21
votes
7
answers
31k
views
Should we ask for name on card even though it's not required for credit card payments?
The name on card is not used when processing credit card payments. Paypal does not ask the user to enter the name on card when saving a card to the "wallet", while Amazon.com does.
The benefit of ...
- 5,888
12
votes
6
answers
4k
views
Login button - on homepage or separate page?
I ran across an article called Put the login on the front page, where the author wants sites to:
[...]put the user name and password
box somewhere obvious on the home page
like the upper right ...
- 324
11
votes
3
answers
18k
views
Reset password, appropriate response if email doesn't exist?
It is common on login forms to see "Email or password is incorrect" when the user types in their account details incorrectly instead of just "password is incorrect". This is, for among other reasons, ...
- 15.3k
11
votes
4
answers
555
views
When is it right to use "Not <user>?"
Sometimes a site shows a message reading: "You are logged in as [user1]. Not [user1]? Please log out."
When is it right to use such a thing? Where are we assuming someone is mistakenly logged in as ...
- 173
11
votes
3
answers
1k
views
Should I capture exceptions and present a nice error page to hackers? [closed]
If a hacker is trying to hack, should I present a pretty error page or redirect somewhere instead of a generic/cryptic error? I feel that the hacker knows what they are doing, I know what they are ...
- 797
11
votes
5
answers
1k
views
Does SSL on a company's website make the company appear more credible?
I recently had a thought about the way many modern browsers display information about a site's security certificates. At least Firefox shows a very noticeable blue box in the address bar on sites that ...
- 437
10
votes
3
answers
1k
views
Why did they use two-stage social media sharing buttons?
I recently visited a seemingly fairly reputable web site and was astonished to see their implementation of a two-stage trigger for their social media buttons:
(The text appears when you hover over ...
- 5,985
10
votes
3
answers
1k
views
Usability and security for user access and password handling in a web application?
I'm looking at putting together a website aimed at ordinary users that will handle personal data which I don't want to be compromised. How can I make the site secure but also usable?
It seems most ...
- 203
9
votes
4
answers
7k
views
How many incorrect attempts should be allowed before invalidating a password?
I am trying to prevent brute force attacks on a user's account by invalidating a password when too many attempts are made in the same minute, hour, day or something similar. The credentials in this ...
8
votes
3
answers
736
views
Has Captcha become common knowledge?
I am doing a business site for a web company, and was wondering if Captcha has become so well-known, that it no longer needs an explanation ?
Right now there is only a input box, the captcha image ...
- 471
7
votes
3
answers
172
views
Accessing secure content
Which of the permutations for accessing secure content do folks prefer? In this instance I'm referring to a saved quote and have usernames, email addresses and quote reference numbers available.
E.g:...
Ali
6
votes
1
answer
562
views
Usable examples, recommended practices for interfaces optimized for using pass-phrases instead of passwords
Reading through What is the best way to inspire users to choose strong password?, I realized I have never used an interface where the primary login password system would use pass-phrases (and where ...
- 3,239
4
votes
2
answers
997
views
How does the perception of website data being insecure affect usability?
If the user perceives that data entered into a website is insecure (if it is perceived that it can be hacked, stolen or tampered with), how is the usability of the site affected?
This question is in ...
- 2,185
4
votes
5
answers
297
views
Security issues if not forcing a user to sign up
I've built a simple web app Flask.io that enables users to create and share to-do lists.
It doesn't require sign up. This is an important differentiator. I don't want to force the user to register ...
- 553
3
votes
2
answers
1k
views
Should confirm email links autologin if the user is not logged in?
I am working on a system where the administrator can configure the following behaviour for email addresses:
Allow users to attach multiple email addresses to their account (just like Facebook and ...
- 5,888
2
votes
1
answer
838
views
What's the best way to handle password reset requests where the user hasn't registered with the entered email address
Within a secure password reset function of a web application where the email address is the unique account identifier, what would be the best way to handle password reset requests where no matching ...
- 133