Which statement is true about password security and cost?

• A. TRUE
• B. FALSE
• C. IT DEPENDS
• D. NOT ENOUGH INFORMATION

Answer: (B)

Password security and cost are tied together: strengthening protection almost always increases expense. Implementing stronger password storage (like salted hashes with a higher work factor), adding multi-factor authentication, rate limiting, and ongoing monitoring all require more computing resources, software, and administrative effort. Yet the cost is justified because breaches can be far more expensive in terms of data loss, downtime, and reputational damage. In practice, security decisions are a balance between risk and budget, so you don’t get a universal, cost-free improvement in security. That’s why the statement is not correct—the relationship between password security and cost is real, making the claim false.