Encouraging password manager use

Password managers are a marvellous invention – essentially removing the pain that comes from trying to remember multiple, complex passwords. Yet adoption rates are low, which seems strange because no-one tries to memorise all their contacts' telephone numbers. There are many free password manager apps, so cost is not a deterrent. So, what is going on

Modeling inertia causatives:validating in the password manager adoption context

Cyber criminals are benefiting from the fact that people do not take the required precautions to protect their devices and communications. It is the equivalent of leaving their home’s front door unlocked and unguarded, something no one would do. Many efforts are made by governments and other bodies to raise awareness, but this often seems to fall on deaf ears. People seem to resist changing their existing cyber security practices: they demonstrate inertia. Here, we propose a model and instrument for investigating the factors that contribute towards this phenomenon

Exploring cybersecurity-related emotions and finding that they are challenging to measure

This paper reports on a three-part investigation into people’s perceptions of cybersecurity, based on their lived experiences. We sought thereby to reveal issues located within the Johari grid’s “Blind Spot” quadrant. We utilized research methodologies from both the Arts and Science in order firstly to identify blind spot issues, and secondly to explore their dimensions. Our investigation confirmed a number of aspects that we were indeed aware of, when it came to people’s lived cybersecurity experiences. We also identified one particular blind spot issue: widespread, but not universal, negativity towards cybersecurity. We then carried out an investigation using a recognized methodology from psychology, as a first attempt to assess the nature of this negativity and to get a sense of its roots. What our initial experiment revealed was that scoping cybersecurity-related emotions is nontrivial and will require the formulation of new measurement tools. We conclude by reporting on the challenges, to inform researchers who plan to extend the research reported in this paper

Modeling inertia causatives

Cyber criminals are benefiting from the fact that people do not take the required precautions to protect their devices and communications. It is the equivalent of leaving their home's front door unlocked and unguarded, something no one would do. Many efforts are made by governments and other bodies to raise awareness, but this often seems to fall on deaf ears. People seem to resist changing their existing cyber security practices: they demonstrate inertia. Here, we propose a model and instrument for investigating the factors that contribute towards this phenomenon

MIGRANT : modeling smartphone password manager adoption using migration theory

Password manager applications have the potential to alleviate password pain and improve password strength, yet they are not widely adopted. Password managers are dissimilar to other kinds of software tools, given that the leakage of the credentials they store could give a hacker access to all the individual's online accounts. Moreover, adoption requires a deliberate switch away from an existing (manual) password management routine. As such, traditional technology adoption models are unlikely to model password manager adoption accurately. In this paper, we propose and explain how we validated a theoretical model of smartphone password manager adoption. We commenced by carrying out exploratory interviews with 30 smartphone owners to identify factors that influence adoption. These were used to develop a model that reflects the password manager adoption process, building on migration theory. The proposed model, MIGRANT (MIGRation pAssword maNager adopTion), was validated and subsequently refined in a week-long study with 198 smartphone owners, combining self-report and observation to measure constructs. This study contributes to the information security behavioral literature by isolating the main factors that encourage or deter password manager adoption, and those that moor smartphone owners in their current practices, hindering switching. With this investigation, we introduce migration theory as a reference theory for future studies in the information security behavioral field