Team: Lorrie Cranor, Nicolas Christian, Alessandro Acquisti, Rahul Telang
Abstract:
Our ability to design appropriate information security mechanisms and sound security policies depends on our understanding of how end-users actually behave. To improve this understanding, we will establish a large panel of end-users whose complete online behavior will be captured, monitored, and analyzed over an extended period of time. Establishing such a panel will require the design of sound measurement methodologies, while paying particular attention to the protection of end-users' confidential information. Once established, our panel will offer an unprecedented window on real-time, real-life security and privacy behavior "in the wild." The panel will combine tracking, experimental, and survey data, and will provide a foundation on which sound models of both user and attacker behavior can rest. These models will lead to the scientific design of intervention policies and technical countermeasures against security threats. In other words, in addition to academic research, this research will also lead to actionable recommendations for policy makers and firms.