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Passwords
In addition to access privileges, password schemes often protect shared resources such as collective data. When you provide a password system, make the interface to it as clear as possible. Follow these guidelines concerning passwords:
- Allow passwords to contain both alphabetic and numeric characters.
- Allow passwords to be as long as is practical.
- Never display the password on the screen in clear text, not even while the user is typing it. A common method of providing feedback to the user is to display a bullet character for each character that the user types. When the user edits a password, the Delete key erases one character in a system that displays a character for each character typed.
- Provide a way for the user to verify the password when it is entered or changed. Requiring the user to enter the password two times minimizes the possibility of a typing error. If a person makes a mistake in entering the password but doesn't have to verify it, he or she will then be denied access to the data.
Figure 2-9 shows the initial dialog box a user sees when connecting to an AppleShare file server. It shows the password field with bullets in it to represent typed characters.
Figure 2-9 The AppleShare connect dialog box
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