Evaluating Password Security: Strengths and Common Vulnerabilities

Passwords have long served as the cornerstone of digital authentication, safeguarding sensitive data, financial information, and personal communication. However, as cyber threats evolve, the effectiveness of traditional password-based systems is increasingly questioned. This project aims to evaluate password security by analyzing both strengths and common vulnerabilities associated with password usage. Through a review of password creation practices, password strength estimation tools (such as zxcvbn), and simulated brute-force/cracking scenarios, this study highlights why weak and reused passwords remain a critical vulnerability in modern cybersecurity. The findings indicate that while strong, unique passwords significantly reduce risk, human behavior—including poor memory, convenience, and negligence—often undermines security. The project also emphasizes the role of multi-factor authentication (MFA) and password managers as supplementary defenses. Ultimately, the study concludes that while passwords are not obsolete, their security depends on a combination of robust policies, user awareness, and complementary authentication mechanisms

• Publication year

  2025

• Venue

  International Journal of Advanced Research in Science, Communication and Technology

• Publication date

  2025-11-11

• Fields of study

  Not labeled

• Identifiers
  DOI 10.48175/ijarsct-29746
• External record

  Open on Semantic Scholar

• Source metadata

  Semantic Scholar

• No claims are published for this paper.

• No concepts are published for this paper.

• Incorporating Syncable Authenticators Into NIST SP 800-63B

  2024cited by this paper
• Password security

  2019cited by this paper
• Designing Password Policies for Strength and Usability

  2016cited by this paper
• The Tangled Web of Password Reuse

  2014cited by this paper
• The Science of Guessing: Analyzing an Anonymized Corpus of 70 Million Passwords

  2012cited by this paper
• Guess Again (and Again and Again): Measuring Password Strength by Simulating Password-Cracking Algorithms

  2012cited by this paper
• The Quest to Replace Passwords: A Framework for Comparative Evaluation of Web Authentication Schemes

  2012cited by this paper
• Testing metrics for password creation policies by attacking large sets of revealed passwords

  2010cited by this paper
• Password Strength: An Empirical Analysis

  2010cited by this paper
• A large-scale study of web password habits

  2007cited by this paper

• No citing papers are available for this paper.