Research Seminar | Crypto vs. Reality – The (mis)perception of security mechanisms

Speaker: Sebastian Linsner (TU Darmstadt – CROSSING E7)
Title: Crypto vs. Reality – The (mis)perception of security mechanisms
Date: 09.03.2023
Time: 13:00h
Location: Pankratiusstraße 2, Lab 121 (Pizza afterwards)

Abstract:
Designing Security mechanisms requires to meet many different needs: A sound theoretical concept, a proper implementation without side-channels and a usable interface, to name a few. But is that enough? While often an attacker model is derived and evaluated, a proper user model is often lacking. Although it is important to prevent malicious actions taken against a security mechanism, the ultimate hurdle is the adoption of the mechanism, because a tool that is not used can not protect anyone. Adoption of security is not simply done by designing a nice interface and advertise the product. Research showed that the mental model of the users is highly important to prevent additional security risks: Users try to turn mechanisms of or circumvent them if they do not trust them. On the other hand, leads lacking understanding of the security mechanisms to overestimation the actual security, putting users at danger. Therefore, I will highlight in my talk, why it is important to include the users into the design process of security and how common risks can be prevented.

Biography:
Sebastian Linser has his background in Computer Science and IT-Security. Since 2018, he is a research associate at PEASEC – Science and Technology for Peace and Security, working on the topics of Usable Security and Usable Privacy.