Faced with an ever-growing list of passwords, many web users are resorting to unorthodox "coping mechanisms" in order to remember them.

"Despite violating long-standing password guidance, writing passwords down is, if properly done, increasingly accepted as a coping mechanism," the study states.

"Other strategies to cope with the human impossibility of using strong passwords everywhere without re-use include single sign-on, the use of email-based password reset mechanisms, and password managers."

While in some cases these measures can help web users to manage their password portfolio, it is generally just trading one set of risks for another.

"If the master password is guessed or used on any malware-infected client, or the cloud store is compromised, then all credentials are lost," the researchers said.