We are delighted to re-launch this Research Topic in conjunction with the workshop on Usable Security and Privacy (USEC), to welcome contributions presented at the 2021 virtual event (or past sessions) in the form of extended papers. Users are considered the weakest link for security and privacy in cyberspace. Many recent data breaches are attributed to users, deliberate or accidental. Though there is a need to develop novel security and privacy technologies, it has been recognized that technological solutions alone cannot solve the security and privacy problems in emerging ubiquitous applications such as mobile systems, autonomous vehicles, and the Internet of Things (IoT). For instance, users are often hardly able to understand the security and privacy-related messages generated by these systems since they are written by tech-savvy developers; even computer science graduates have difficulties in understanding some of the security and privacy messages generated by modern computer applications, including mobile phones, web applications, etc. The challenge is how to build the security and privacy solutions usable by end-users. Towards addressing this challenge, we need a paradigm shift on how we address security and privacy problems, moving away from a technology focus to the use of a socio-technological dimension.
This Article Collection aims to report the novel socio-technological solutions developed for usable security and privacy. Some of the research topics in this area include, but are not limited to:
- Usable security by design;
- Usable privacy by design;
- Constructing user-centric privacy and security in mobile and IoT applications;
- HCI for security and privacy;
- Usable authentication;
- Usability of online security indicators;
- Usable guidelines for security and privacy;
- Consumers’ views on privacy and security;
- Case studies in usable security and privacy;
- Human-centric Privacy-aware Data Management and Sharing.
This article collection welcomes diverse article types, including Original Research, Reviews, and Perspective Papers. Upon consultation with the Editors, we may also include Hypothesis & Theory papers, Technology Reports, Mini Reviews, Code, Data Report, General Commentaries, and other article types.
