User modelling validation over the security awareness of digital natives

Abstract

Young generations make extensive use of mobile devices, such as smart-phones, tablets and laptops, for a variety of daily tasks with potentially critical impact, while the number of security breaches via portable devices increases exponentially. A plethora of security risks associated with these devices are induced by design shortcomings and vulnerabilities related to user behavior. Therefore, deploying suitable risk treatments requires the investigation of how security experts perceive the digital natives (young people, born in the digital era), when utilizing their user behavior models in the design and analysis of related systems. In this article, we present the results of a survey performed across a multinational sample of security professionals, in comparison to our earlier study over the security awareness of digital natives. Through this study, we seek to identify divergences between user behavior and the conceptual user-models that security experts utilise in their professional tasks. Our results indicate that the experts understanding over the user behaviour does not follow a solidified user-model, while influences from personal perceptions and randomness are also noticeable.