PasswordsThe Last Word
One last password-related topic is worth mentioning. A password is effective only if just the intended users have it. As soon as a password is given to someone else, its effectiveness as an authentication mechanism is diminished. As a tool for accountability, the password is almost useless. Passwords are a means of accessing a system and the data on it. Passwords that are known by anyone other than the intended user(s) might as well not be set at all.