Tag: www

Abstract Despite recent advances in increasing computer security by eliminating human involvement and error, there are still situations in which humans must manually perform computer security tasks, such as enabling automatic updates, rebooting machines to apply some of those updates, or enrolling in two-factor authentication. We argue that present bias—the tendency to discount future risks […]

AbstractSoftware updates are critical to the performance, compatibility, and security of software systems. However, users do not always install updates, leaving their machines vulnerable to attackers’ exploits. While recent studies have highlighted numerous reasons why users ignore updates, little is known about how prevalent each of these beliefs is. Gaining a better understanding of the […]

Abstract Web browser warnings should help protect people from malware, phishing, and network attacks. Adhering to warnings keeps people safer online. Recent improvements in warning design have raised adherence rates, but they could still be higher. And prior work suggests many people still do not understand them. Thus, two challenges remain: increasing both comprehension and […]

Abstract Although Tor has state-of-the art anti-censorship measures, users in heavily censored environments will likely not be able to connect to Tor because they cannot make the correct decisions during the configuration process. We perform the first usability evaluation of Tor Launcher, the graphical user interface (GUI) that Tor Browser uses to configure connections to […]

Abstract Text passwords—a frequent vector for account compromise, yet still ubiquitous—have been studied for decades by researchers attempting to determine how to coerce users to create passwords that are hard for attackers to guess but still easy for users to type and memorize. Most studies examine one password or a small number of passwords per […]

Abstract Decades of psychology and decision-making research show that everyone makes decisions differently; yet security messaging is still one-size-fits-all. This suggests that we can improve outcomes by delivering information relevant to how each individual makes decisions. We tested this hypothesis by designing messaging customized for stable personality traits—specifically, the five dimensions of the General Decision-Making […]

Abstract A basic understanding of online privacy is essential to being an informed digital citizen, and therefore basic privacy education is becoming ever more necessary. Recently released high school and college computer science curricula acknowledge the significantly increased importance of fundamental knowledge about privacy, but do not yet provide concrete content in the area. To […]

Abstract Computer security problems often occur when there are disconnects between users’ understanding of their role in computer security and what is expected of them. To help users make good security decisions more easily, we need insights into the challenges they face in their daily computer usage. We built and deployed the Security Behavior Observatory […]

Abstract The Security Behavior Intentions Scale (SeBIS) measures the computer security attitudes of end-users. Because intentions are a prerequisite for planned behavior, the scale could therefore be useful for predicting users’ computer security behaviors. We performed three experiments to identify correlations between each of SeBIS’s four sub-scales and relevant computer security behaviors. We found that […]

Abstract While individual differences in decision-making have been examined within the social sciences for several decades, they have only recently begun to be applied by computer scientists to examine privacy and security attitudes (and ultimately behaviors). Specifically, several researchers have shown how different online privacy decisions are correlated with the “Big Five” personality traits. In […]