Case study:exploring children’s password knowledge and practices

Children use technology from a very young age, and often have to authenticate themselves. Yet very little attention has been paid to designing authentication specifically for this particular target group. The usual practice is to deploy the ubiquitous password, and this might well be a suboptimal choice. Designing authentication for children requires acknowledgement of child-specific developmental challenges related to literacy, cognitive abilities and differing developmental stages. Understanding the current state of play is essential, to deliver insights that can inform the development of child-centred authentication mechanisms and processes. We carried out a systematic literature review of all research related to children and authentication since 2000. A distinct research gap emerged from the analysis. Thus, we designed and administered a survey to school children in the United States (US), so as to gain insights into their current password usage and behaviors. This paper reports preliminary results from a case study of 189 children (part of a much larger research effort). The findings highlight age-related differences in children’s password understanding and practices. We also discovered that children confuse concepts of safety and security. We conclude by suggesting directions for future research. This paper reports on work in progress.<br/

Sixth-, Seventh-, and Eighth-Grade Students\u27 Experiences with the Internet and Their Internet Safety Knowledge.

According to a 2002 National Center for Education Statistics report, 98% of schools in 2001 were connected to the Internet and 63% of public classrooms had Internet connections. According to a 2003 United States Census Bureau report, 68.3% of homes with children subscribed to the Internet. These statistics reveal the scope of access children have to the Internet. This study focused on the children\u27s voice by investigating the children\u27s report of their online activities and their awareness of cyber security, ethics, and safety issues. The purpose of this study was to gain insight into the specific reported online activities and Internet safety knowledge of children aged 10-14 years along with their report of parental supervision of their Internet use. The study included data gathered from 446 self-administered surveys completed by 6th-, 7th-, and 8th-grade students in a rural school district in East Tennessee. An analysis of the research confirmed that as children mature, they increase their use of the Internet and their participation in unsafe online practices. The findings indicated that the most common online practices reported by the middle-grade students included emailing, social networking (MySpace), instant messaging, publishing and sharing information about their favorite sports and activities, and using secret codes while messaging with friends. The results of this study indicated significant relationships between the household placement of the computer and the frequency of unsafe online practices; students with computers in private locations reported unsafe online practices with twice the frequency of those with computers that could be monitored. The findings reflected that, in general, students were knowledgeable about unsafe Internet practices and engaged primarily in safe practices; however, many did report practices that could potentially place them at risk. The results from this study demonstrate a need for Internet safety programs to educate parents about the dangers their children face online and how to minimize those risks and to help children to gain the knowledge, decision-making skills, and motivation necessary to make safe and responsible choices when they are using the Internet

Sixth-, Seventh-, and Eighth-Grade Students\u27 Experiences with the Internet and Their Internet Safety Knowledge.

According to a 2002 National Center for Education Statistics report, 98% of schools in 2001 were connected to the Internet and 63% of public classrooms had Internet connections. According to a 2003 United States Census Bureau report, 68.3% of homes with children subscribed to the Internet. These statistics reveal the scope of access children have to the Internet. This study focused on the children\u27s voice by investigating the children\u27s report of their online activities and their awareness of cyber security, ethics, and safety issues. The purpose of this study was to gain insight into the specific reported online activities and Internet safety knowledge of children aged 10-14 years along with their report of parental supervision of their Internet use. The study included data gathered from 446 self-administered surveys completed by 6th-, 7th-, and 8th-grade students in a rural school district in East Tennessee. An analysis of the research confirmed that as children mature, they increase their use of the Internet and their participation in unsafe online practices. The findings indicated that the most common online practices reported by the middle-grade students included emailing, social networking (MySpace), instant messaging, publishing and sharing information about their favorite sports and activities, and using secret codes while messaging with friends. The results of this study indicated significant relationships between the household placement of the computer and the frequency of unsafe online practices; students with computers in private locations reported unsafe online practices with twice the frequency of those with computers that could be monitored. The findings reflected that, in general, students were knowledgeable about unsafe Internet practices and engaged primarily in safe practices; however, many did report practices that could potentially place them at risk. The results from this study demonstrate a need for Internet safety programs to educate parents about the dangers their children face online and how to minimize those risks and to help children to gain the knowledge, decision-making skills, and motivation necessary to make safe and responsible choices when they are using the Internet