Abstract
Young generations make extensive use of mobile devices, such as smartphones, tablets and laptops, while a plethora of security risks associated with such devices are induced by vulnerabilities related to user behavior. Furthermore, the number of security breaches on or via portable devices increases exponentially. Thus, deploying suitable risk treatments requires the investigation of how the digital natives (young people, born and bred in the digital era) use their mobile devices and their level of security awareness, in order to identify common usage patterns with negative security impact. In this article, we present the results of a survey performed across a multinational sample of digital natives with distinct backgrounds and levels of competence in terms of security, to identify divergences in user behavior due to regional, educational and other factors. Our results highlight significant influences on the behavior of digital natives, arising from user confidence, educational background, and parameters related to usability and accessibility. The outcomes of this study justify the need for further analysis of the topic, in order to identify the influence of fine-grained semantics, but also the consolidation of wide and robust user-models.
Highlights
Mobile devices have become an indispensable part of our everyday life, since they fulfill the increasing users’ desire for Internet connectivity and access to information, social and private networks at any time and place
The purpose of this study was to investigate how the digital natives use their mobile devices, their level of security awareness, and how these relate to their background and educational influences
Our goal was to identify common usage patterns with negative security impact in order to facilitate the deployment of suitable risk treatments
Summary
Mobile devices (i.e., cellphones, laptops, tablets) have become an indispensable part of our everyday life, since they fulfill the increasing users’ desire for Internet connectivity and access to information, social and private networks at any time and place. The reduced cost, in combination with the increasing computational and storage capacity of mobile devices, allow them to accommodate critical functionalities with significant security and safety related impact such as e-banking, control systems and Internet of things architectures. Such devices do not store information related to their owners, and receive data on people and infrastructure related in some way to them. The users are accustomed to the notion of continuous connectivity, even across networks with potentially unknown configurations Such transmissions are likely to be vulnerable to unauthorized access and, they constitute a security risk. These risks materialize as direct criminal attacks, such as privacy intrusions or unauthorized disruptions of Information 2017, 8, 42; doi:10.3390/info8020042 www.mdpi.com/journal/information
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