16,070 research outputs found
Towards Enhanced Usability of IT Security Mechanisms - How to Design Usable IT Security Mechanisms Using the Example of Email Encryption
Nowadays, advanced security mechanisms exist to protect data, systems, and
networks. Most of these mechanisms are effective, and security experts can
handle them to achieve a sufficient level of security for any given system.
However, most of these systems have not been designed with focus on good
usability for the average end user. Today, the average end user often struggles
with understanding and using security mecha-nisms. Other security mechanisms
are simply annoying for end users. As the overall security of any system is
only as strong as the weakest link in this system, bad usability of IT security
mechanisms may result in operating errors, resulting in inse-cure systems.
Buying decisions of end users may be affected by the usability of security
mechanisms. Hence, software provid-ers may decide to better have no security
mechanism then one with a bad usability. Usability of IT security mechanisms is
one of the most underestimated properties of applications and sys-tems. Even IT
security itself is often only an afterthought. Hence, usability of security
mechanisms is often the after-thought of an afterthought. This paper presents
some guide-lines that should help software developers to improve end user
usability of security-related mechanisms, and analyzes com-mon applications
based on these guidelines. Based on these guidelines, the usability of email
encryption is analyzed and an email encryption solution with increased
usability is presented. The approach is based on an automated key and trust
man-agement. The compliance of the proposed email encryption solution with the
presented guidelines for usable security mechanisms is evaluated
On the nature of laminar-turbulence intermittency in shear flows
In pipe, channel and boundary layer flows turbulence first occurs
intermittently in space and time: at moderate Reynolds numbers domains of
disordered turbulent motion are separated by quiescent laminar regions. Based
on direct numerical simulations of pipe flow we here argue that the spatial
intermittency has its origin in a nearest neighbor interaction between
turbulent regions. We further show that in this regime turbulent flows are
intrinsically intermittent with a well defined equilibrium turbulent fraction
but without ever assuming a steady pattern. This transition scenario is
analogous to that found in simple models such as coupled map lattices. The
scaling observed implies that laminar intermissions of the turbulent flow will
persist to arbitrarily large Reynolds numbers
Using occupancy analysis to validate the use of footprint tunnels as a method for monitoring the hedgehog Erinaceus europaeus
Indirect survey methods are often used in studies of mammals, but are susceptible to biases caused by failure to detect species where they are present. Occupancy analysis is an analytical technique which enables non-detection rates to be estimated and which can be used to develop and refine novel survey methods. In this study, we investigated the use of footprint tunnels by volunteers as a method for surveying occupancy of sites by hedgehogs Erinaceus europaeus. The survey protocol led to a very low non-detection rate and could reasonably be used to detect occupancy changes of 25% with statistical power of 0.95 in a national survey
The development of the professionalism of adult educators: a biographical and learning perspective
To investigate the development of the professionalism of adult educators, we compare individuals’ narratives of their professional work at different times in their biographies. Using data from a qualitative longitudinal study, the paper includes two case studies through which we show phases of learning in the development of professionalism. We reconstruct forms and meanings of learning in this process. The study allows insights into differences in professional learning during the life course and the influence of institutional and social context in the development of professionalism. (DIPF/orig.
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