Author Date

2023-08-04

Degree Name

Department

None

College

Physical and Mathematical Sciences

Defense Date

2023-07-25

Publication Date

2023-08-04

First Faculty Advisor

Daniel Zappala

First Faculty Reader

Michael Jones

Honors Coordinator

Seth Holladay

Keywords

passwordless authentication, account sharing, passkeys, user experience, usable security

Abstract

Passwordless authentication methods are becoming increasingly available for online accounts. This research asks how people will share online accounts with friends and family when there is no longer a password to share. Research participants were introduced to passwordless authentication methods and asked how they imagine the account sharing process might work. They were then introduced to four different methods of passwordless accounts, and asked to evaluate them. Sharing a link to register an additional authentication method proved to be the most popular method of account sharing.