Balancing Security and Usability in Encrypted Email

Loading...
Thumbnail Image
Date
2017
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
IEEE Internet Computing
Abstract
End-to-end encryption is the best way to protect digital messages. Historically, end-to-end encryption has been difficult for people to use, but recent tools have made it more broadly accessible, largely by employing key-directory services. These services sacrifice some security properties for convenience. A 52-person user study found that participants could learn to understand properties of different encryption models and make coherent assessments about when different trade offs might be appropriate. Participants recognized that a less convenient key exchange model was more secure overall, but considered the key-directory approach to have security sufficient for most everyday purposes.
Description
Keywords
Security, Encrypted Email
Citation
Bai, W., Kim, D., Namara, M., Qian, Y., Kelley, P. G., & Mazurek, M. L. (2017). Balancing security and usability in encrypted email. IEEE Internet Computing, 21(3), 30-38.