Most consumers use one or two passwords - Gartner

Consumers are concerned about online security, but remain unwilling to sacrifice convenience to ensure it, according to a Gartner survey.

Around two-thirds of US consumers still use the same one or two passwords for every web site and were unwilling to explore alternative security measures.

"[Consumers] don't favor using software or hardware to help manage passwords, and user-centric identity frameworks like OpenID and information card architectures face scarce consumer demand," said Gartner research director Gregg Kreizman.

Web site owners hoping to maintain security without turning away customers will have to find new solutions balancing security and ease of use, he said.

Gartner recommends augmenting password systems with complementary mechanisms such as device identification, geolocation and transaction verification.