Contact Info

Rick Wash
404 Wilson Rd #402
402 Communication Arts and Sciences
Michigan State University
East Lansing, MI 48824
wash@msu.edu

Cell: (734) 730-1188
Office: (517) 355-2381

Betrayed By Updates: How Negative Experiences Affect Future Security

by: Kami Vaniea, Emilee Rader, and Rick Wash

Abstract

Installing security-relevant software updates is one of the best computer protection mechanisms. However, users do not always choose to install updates. Through interviewing non-expert Windows users, we found that users frequently decide not to install future updates, regardless of whether they are important for security, after negative experiences with past updates. This means that even non-security updates (such as user interface changes) can impact the security of a computer. This update behavior is becoming increasingly important as devices move toward an ``app’’ model for software distribution and updates.

Reference

Kami Vaniea, Emilee Rader, and Rick Wash. “Betrayed By Updates: How Negative Experiences Affect Future SecurityProceedings of the ACM Conference on Human Factors in Computing (CHI). Toronto, Canada. April 2014.

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