Home-computer users at risk due to use of ‘folk model’ security

Most home computers are vulnerable to hacker attacks because the users either mistakenly think they have enough security in place or they don't believe they have enough valuable information that would be of interest to a hacker.

That's the point of a paper published this month by Michigan State University's Rick Wash, who says that most home-computer users rely on what are known as "folk models." Those are beliefs about what hackers or viruses are that people use to make decisions about security – to keep their information safe.

Unfortunately, they don't often work the way they should.

"Home security is hard because people are untrained in security," said Wash, an assistant professor in the Department of Telecommunication, Information Studies and Media, and the School of Journalism. "But it isn't because people are idiots. Rather they try their best to make sense of what's going on and frequently make choices that leave them vulnerable."

In his paper, published in the proceedings of the Symposium on Usable Privacy and Security, Wash identified eight folk models of security threats that are used by home computer users to decide what security software to use and which advice to follow.

These models range from the vague and generic – "viruses are bad" – to the more specific – "hackers are burglars who break into computers for criminal purposes."