Matthew Smith, Professor, University of Bonn, Germany
Many aspects of information security combine technical and human factors. If a highly secure system is unusable, users will try to circumvent the system or migrate entirely to less secure but more usable systems. Problems with usability are a major contributor to many recent high-profile security failures. The research domain of usable security and privacy addresses these issues. However, the main focus of researchers in this field has been on the “non-expert” end-user. After placing this issue in context of current research, the presenter will argue that we need to push the frontiers of usable security research to include the human aspects of system security and the administrators and developers involved in it. The talk will use TLS as an example to illustrate usable security and privacy issues across all levels and for all actors involved in the system.
Matthew Smith is a Professor for Usable Security and Privacy at the University of Bonn. His research is focused on human factors of security and privacy mechanisms with a wide range of application areas, including TLS and network security, authentication, mobile and app security and, most recently, usable security for developers and administrators.
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