Human–computer interaction (security): Difference between revisions

Revision as of 03:36, 11 February 2008

Revision as of 18:23, 12 February 2008

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'''HCISec''' is the study of interaction between people (users)humans and computers, or [[HCI]], specifically pertainingas it pertains to [[information security]]. Its aim, in plain terms, is to improve the [[usability]] of security features in software[[end useduser]] by peopleapplications.

Unlike [[HCI]], which has roots in the early days of [[Xerox PARC]] during the [[1970s]], HCISec is a nascent field of study by comparison. Not surprisingly, interest in this topic tracks with that of [[Internet security]], which has become an area of broad public concern only in thevery past severalrecent years.

Historically, security features exhibit poor usability for reasons that include:

* they were added in casual afterthought

* they were hastily patched in to address newly discovered [[security bug]]s

* they address very complex [[use case]]s without the benefit of a [[Wizard %28software%29|software wizard]]

* their interface designers lacked understanding of related security concepts

* their interface designers were not usability experts (often meaning they were the application developers themselves)

==Further reading==