User Acceptance of Password Manager Software: Evidence from Australian Microbusinesses

Abstract

While text passwords are still a pervasive authentication tool, their inadequacies are well recognized. Poorly chosen and weak passwords are the main reason behind security breaches. Multiple authentication techniques such as biometric, token-based, and knowledge-based authentication have been developed to overcome data leaks. However, acceptance of these authenticating techniques is complicated, and users find them hard to use. Microbusinesses, defined as having less than two employees, usually have very limited resources including budget, information security expertise and updated computer systems to fulfil the security requirements. Many microbusiness owners use the same information technology as in the home but for more sophisticated commercial reasons. An effective and easy way for microbusinesses to add an extra protection layer to their systems and passwords is through the use of password managers. This paper examines the useability and ease of use of the password manager software. We extended the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) and tested the mediating role of self-efficacy on TAM's relationship with computer security usage. A sample of 420 microbusiness owners was taken to test the relationships among the variables through an online web-based survey. The results confirmed that self-efficacy plays a vital role in the user acceptance of password managers and reported its mediating role between perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, and computer security usage.