Security Officers′ Attitudes to the Use of Shared Logons

User identifiers/passwords are an integral part of the first line of defence of a computer system. Ideally, each user should have a unique logon assigned to him or her but because of work demands, the practice of sharing logons in user groups is now emerging. A study of security officers in a large Australian organization examined the security awareness of these officers and the reasons for, and current management practices of, shared logons. It was found that work flow efficiency was more important than access control and that policies for user group access control are urgently needed.