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User errors or delays while performing security-critical tasks can lead to undesirable or even disastrous consequences. The impact of both accidental and intentional distractions on users in such situations has received little investigation. In particular, it is unclear whether and how sensory stimuli (e.g., sound or light) influence users' behavior and trigger mistakes. Better understanding of the effects of such distractions can lead to increased user awareness and countermeasures. Preliminary studies suggest somewhat surprising effects of auditory distractions; this project develops an unattended study allowing more rigorous evaluation of the impact of distractions.
The project conducts controlled user studies to examine the effects of different sound variations on participants' speed and accuracy when logging into a computer network, controlling for participants' awareness of the distraction event. Existing theory suggests auditory distractions can both improve and degrade performance; this will be carefully evaluated to determine how various stimuli impact security actions. The experiments will be conducted in a fully automated manner, which makes large-scale studies feasible and also avoids any potential experimenter bias.
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EAGER: Unattended/Automated Studies of Effects of Auditory Distractions on Users Performing Security-Critical Tasks