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What triggers end-user security and privacy (S&P) behaviors? How do those triggers vary across individuals? When and how do people share their S&P behavior changes? Prior work, in usable security and persuasive design, suggests that answering these questions is critical if we are to design systems that encourage pro-S&P behaviors. Accordingly, we asked 852 online survey respondents about their most recent S&P behaviors (n = 1947), what led up to those behaviors, and if they shared those behaviors. We found that social “triggers”, where people interacted with or observed others, were most common, followed by proactive triggers, where people acted absent of an external stimulus, and lastly by forced triggers, where people were forced to act. People from different age groups, nationalities, and levels of security behavioral intention (SBI) all varied in which triggers were dominant. Most importantly, people with low-to-medium SBI most commonly reported social triggers. Furthermore, participants were four times more likely to share their behavior changes with others when they, themselves, reported a social trigger.
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An Examination of Industry Standards of Success within Penetration Testing Groups
While security technology can be nearly impenetrable, the people behind the computer screens are often easily manipulated, which makes the human factor the biggest threat to cybersecurity. This study examined whether college students disclosed private information about themselves, and what type of information they shared. The study utilized pretexting, in which attackers impersonate individuals in certain roles and often involves extensive research to ensure credibility. The goal of pretexting is to create situations where individuals feel safe releasing information that they otherwise might not. The pretexts used for this study were based on the natural inclination to help, where people tend to want to help those in need, and reciprocity, where people tend to return favors given to them. Participants (N=51) answered survey questions that they thought were for a good cause or that would result in a reward. This survey asked for increasingly sensitive information that could be used maliciously to gain access to identification, passwords, or security questions. Upon completing the survey, participants were debriefed on the true nature of the study and were interviewed about why they were willing to share information via the survey. Some of the most commonly skipped questions included “Student ID number” and “What is your mother’s maiden name?”. General themes identified from the interviews included the importance of similarities between the researcher and the subject, the researcher’s adherence to the character role, the subject’s awareness of question sensitivity, and the overall differences between online and offline disclosure. Findings suggest that college students are more likely to disclose private information if the attacker shares a similar trait with the target or if the attacker adheres to the character role they are impersonating. Additionally, this study sheds light on the research limitations, emphasizes the relevance of the human factor in security and privacy, and offers recommendations for future research.
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- Award ID(s):
- 1742747
- PAR ID:
- 10309907
- Date Published:
- Journal Name:
- IEEE Integrated STEM Education Conference
- Format(s):
- Medium: X
- Sponsoring Org:
- National Science Foundation
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