Balancing Security and Usability in Encrypted Email
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Date
2017
Authors
Bai, Wei
Kim, Doowon
Namara, Moses
Qian, Yichen
Gage Kelley, Patrick
Mazurek, Michelle L.
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.