Smartphone users: Understanding how security mechanisms are perceived and new persuasive methods.

Protecting smartphones against security threats is a multidimensional problem involving human and technological factors. This study investigates how smartphone users' security- and privacy-related decisions are influenced by their attitudes, perceptions, and understanding of various security th...

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Main Authors: Mansour Alsaleh, Noura Alomar, Abdulrahman Alarifi
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Public Library of Science (PLoS) 2017-01-01
Series:PLoS ONE
Online Access:http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC5352308?pdf=render
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author Mansour Alsaleh
Noura Alomar
Abdulrahman Alarifi
author_facet Mansour Alsaleh
Noura Alomar
Abdulrahman Alarifi
author_sort Mansour Alsaleh
collection DOAJ
description Protecting smartphones against security threats is a multidimensional problem involving human and technological factors. This study investigates how smartphone users' security- and privacy-related decisions are influenced by their attitudes, perceptions, and understanding of various security threats. In this work, we seek to provide quantified insights into smartphone users' behavior toward multiple key security features including locking mechanisms, application repositories, mobile instant messaging, and smartphone location services. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study that reveals often unforeseen correlations and dependencies between various privacy- and security-related behaviors. Our work also provides evidence that making correct security decisions might not necessarily correlate with individuals' awareness of the consequences of security threats. By comparing participants' behavior and their motives for adopting or ignoring certain security practices, we suggest implementing additional persuasive approaches that focus on addressing social and technological aspects of the problem. On the basis of our findings and the results presented in the literature, we identify the factors that might influence smartphone users' security behaviors. We then use our understanding of what might drive and influence significant behavioral changes to propose several platform design modifications that we believe could improve the security levels of smartphones.
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spelling doaj.art-36d798601c24496da47a4b449cb7e4462022-12-21T23:59:49ZengPublic Library of Science (PLoS)PLoS ONE1932-62032017-01-01123e017328410.1371/journal.pone.0173284Smartphone users: Understanding how security mechanisms are perceived and new persuasive methods.Mansour AlsalehNoura AlomarAbdulrahman AlarifiProtecting smartphones against security threats is a multidimensional problem involving human and technological factors. This study investigates how smartphone users' security- and privacy-related decisions are influenced by their attitudes, perceptions, and understanding of various security threats. In this work, we seek to provide quantified insights into smartphone users' behavior toward multiple key security features including locking mechanisms, application repositories, mobile instant messaging, and smartphone location services. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first study that reveals often unforeseen correlations and dependencies between various privacy- and security-related behaviors. Our work also provides evidence that making correct security decisions might not necessarily correlate with individuals' awareness of the consequences of security threats. By comparing participants' behavior and their motives for adopting or ignoring certain security practices, we suggest implementing additional persuasive approaches that focus on addressing social and technological aspects of the problem. On the basis of our findings and the results presented in the literature, we identify the factors that might influence smartphone users' security behaviors. We then use our understanding of what might drive and influence significant behavioral changes to propose several platform design modifications that we believe could improve the security levels of smartphones.http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC5352308?pdf=render
spellingShingle Mansour Alsaleh
Noura Alomar
Abdulrahman Alarifi
Smartphone users: Understanding how security mechanisms are perceived and new persuasive methods.
PLoS ONE
title Smartphone users: Understanding how security mechanisms are perceived and new persuasive methods.
title_full Smartphone users: Understanding how security mechanisms are perceived and new persuasive methods.
title_fullStr Smartphone users: Understanding how security mechanisms are perceived and new persuasive methods.
title_full_unstemmed Smartphone users: Understanding how security mechanisms are perceived and new persuasive methods.
title_short Smartphone users: Understanding how security mechanisms are perceived and new persuasive methods.
title_sort smartphone users understanding how security mechanisms are perceived and new persuasive methods
url http://europepmc.org/articles/PMC5352308?pdf=render
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