Logical Reasoning

PT152 · S2 · Q3 Requiring that passwords

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Requiring that passwords conform to rules of length, complexity, and unpredictability increases the likelihood of someone gaining unauthorized access to a user's account.

Conclusion

Requiring that passwords conform to complex requirements increases the likelihood that someone will be able to break into person's account.

Intermediate Conclusion

It's usually impossible to break into a person's account by guessing the password.

Evidence (Since)

Most accounts are locked after a handful of incorrect password guesses.

Complex passwords are hard for the user to remember, and so the user often writes down the password.

Evaluate

It was pretty challenging to find the Conclusion here, because everything sounded like a fact, not an opinion. But ultimately, it's possible to read the first sentence as an opinion, and it is supported by all the claims beneath it.

The author's argument is implicitly comparative, because she thinks that in a world where we have to come up with really complex @lpha-numer7c passwords, there will be more account break-ins than in a world where we can make up whatever password we want.

The author's comparison rests on two notions that we could debate: 1. Requiring a complex password doesn't really affect the rate at which hackers can break into an account (since you only get a few tries before the system locks you up.)

2. The fact that people often write down complex passwords leads to more opportunities for account break-ins.

Skeptics could argue against #1 that when people don't have to conform to complex password requirements, they do really obvious stuff like Patrick123, so hackers can guess passwords with the handful attempts they have before the system locks them out.

Skeptics could argue against #2 that when people write down their password, they hide that in a very secure location that potential hackers would never have access to. Skeptics could also say that .

Goal

Look for something to connect "writing passwords down" to .

Or look for something that fights any of the objections we were making.

The overall conclusion of the argument is strongly supported if which one of the following is assumed?

People who use mnemonic devices
Irrelevant Distinction
We want to strengthen the idea that complex password requirements lead to more account break-ins, because they don't reduce then number of times that a hacker guesses the password, and because they increase the number of times that a user writes their password down. Since this answer is about people who don't write their password down, it's irrelevant to us.
1% picked this
User accounts that are automatically
No Impact
We want to strengthen the idea that complex password requirements lead to more account break-ins, because they don't reduce then number of times that a hacker guesses the password, and because they increase the number of times that a user writes their password down. This answer is about how long it takes until a user can try to login to their account, once it's been frozen from too many password attempts. That has nothing to do with our goal.
0% picked this
Correct
When a password is written
Why this is right
We want to strengthen the idea that complex password requirements lead to more account break-ins, because they don't reduce then number of times that a hacker guesses the password, and because they increase the number of times that a user writes their password down. This answer tells us that writing a password down increases the chance of a break-in. The author's argument boils down to this: CONCLUSION Complex password requirements lead to more account break-ins. why? EVIDENCE Complex password requirements lead to more people writing down their password. MISSING LINK More people writing down their password leads to more account break-ins.
Skill tested: Strengthen · how this choice captures the argument's function is the move to repeat next time.
94% picked this
When users who forget their
No Impact
We want to strengthen the idea that complex password requirements lead to more account break-ins, because they don't reduce then number of times that a hacker guesses the password, and because they increase the number of times that a user writes their password down. This answer, like (B), is about how long it takes until a user can try to login to their account, once it's been frozen from too many password attempts. That has nothing to do with our goal.
2% picked this
Passwords that conform to rules
No Impact
If an answer said, "Passwords that conform to rules of [etc.] are easier to guess than passwords that don't conform to such rules", that would strengthen. If complex passwords are easier to guess, that would help support the author's conclusion that the complex password requirements lead to more account break-ins. But this answer doesn't say complex passwords are easier to guess; it just says they're not-harder, which doesn't do anything.
3% picked this

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