People have many accounts and usually need to create a password for each. They tend to create insecure passwords and re-use passwords, which can lead to compromised data. This research examines if there is a link between personality type and password security among a variety of participants in two groups of participants: SONA and MTurk. Each participant in both surveys answered questions based on password security and their personality type. Our results show that participants in the MTurk survey were more likely to choose a strong password and to exhibit better security behaviors and knowledge than participants in the SONA survey. This is mostly attributed to the age di ff erence. However, the distribution of the results was similar for both MTurk and SONA. In the second part of our study, we found that security behaviors actually went down – this could be due to the pandemic or indicative of a need for more regular messaging/training.

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Comparing Online Surveys for Cybersecurity: SONA and MTurk

For almost every online account, people are required to create a password to protect their information online. Since many people have many accounts, they tend to create insecure passwords and re-use passwords. These insecure passwords are often easy to guess, which can lead to compromised data. It is well-known that every person has a different personality type, which can be determined using personality models such as Big Five and True Colors. This research examines if there is a link between personality type and password security among a variety of participants in two groups of participants: SONA and MTurk. Each participant in both surveys answered questions based on password security and their personality type. Our results show that participants in the MTurk survey were more likely to choose a strong password and to exhibit better security behaviors and knowledge than participants in the SONA survey. This is mostly attributed to the age difference. However, the distribution of the results was similar for both MTurk and SONA. Future surveys on cybersecurity should include both types of demographics for a more generalizable result.

Anne Wagner

Papers

A Comparison of SONA and MTurk for Cybersecurity Surveys