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An Empirical Survey on how Much Security and Privacy Customers Want in Instant Messengers

Authors:
Thomas Paul
Hans-Joachim Hof

Keywords: Instant Messaging; instant messenger; security; usability.

Abstract:
Instant messengers are popular communication tools used by many people for everyday communication, as well as for work related communication. Following the disclosure of a massive surveillance system by Edward Snowden, many users became aware of the risks of unsecure communication. Users increasingly ask for secure communication. However, unsecure instant messengers are still popular nowadays. This could be due to the fact, that, besides the large number of available instant messengers, no instant messenger fully satisfies the users preferences. To research the acceptance of security mechanisms in instant messengers, this paper presents an evaluation of user preferences for secure instant messengers. A user survey was conducted to rate the acceptance of security mechanisms typically used by instant messengers. The survey clearly shows that users ask for security functionality. The paper presents the features of an ideal instant messenger that fulfills all the user preferences identified by the survey. A market simulation shows that the ideal instant messenger has a high potential for commercial success.

Pages: 89 to 94

Copyright: Copyright (c) IARIA, 2016

Publication date: July 24, 2016

Published in: conference

ISSN: 2162-2116

ISBN: 978-1-61208-493-0

Location: Nice, France

Dates: from July 24, 2016 to July 28, 2016