This is an article on worker safety that examines three case studies. The studies were of an electrical worker with 15 years of experience, a construction worker with eight, and a boilermaker with over 30 years of experience. In each instance, the individual performed action they clearly knew was risky and it resulted in severe injuries to each worker. The authors attempt to analyze why the workers engaged in this risky behavior. The theory is that the exposure to risk is subjective and not objective. This means the more someone is around a particular danger, the less dangerous it will seem if they …show more content…
In fact, many of the concerns and issues noted in the article are still quite prevalent today. All the bad password practices are still prevalent, and the use of passwords has done nothing but increase. It is interesting to note a study cited by the author where 12% of users at that time were accessing 10 or more systems. The author surmised if individual websites were factored into the analysis the percentage would grow substantially. He even related personal information to indicate that his number of passwords for systems and sites was well over 30. With the increased size and usage of the internet, it is hard to imagine this demand has done anything but increase. Therefore this article serves well as a snapshot of the state of passwords at the time while also offering astute observations and predictions that have stood the test of time. It is a well written and worthy article for anyone interested in password issues which clearly shows that users are being overwhelmed with too many …show more content…
Sites should not expect strong security passwords if they are not going to enforce the rules for them. Additionally, the author found little evidence of sites trying to educate users for a strong password creation. However, as good as this article is, it is important to note its publication date. Web services and sites are constantly changing, not only in what they require but also in their popularity. Still, this study clearly shows that relying completely on the users to self-govern their password creation behaviors is problematic at best and fatally flawed at worst. A similar but more recent study would be very interesting to see if web service sites have begun to understand that creating secure passwords truly needs to be a joint effort between users and services. This is yet another example of how security designers are not understanding the practical limitations of their all too human