EAPSI: A Cross-Cultural Exploration and Evaluation of Group-Centric Authentication

身份验证是计算机系统规范访问受保护数据的过程。然而，身份验证的设计往往忽略了这些系统所嵌入的社会背景。因此，一个孩子访问父亲的平板电脑的情况与一个陌生人试图访问父亲的银行账户的情况是一样的：如果允许其中任何一个访问，都是对系统安全性的根本性侵犯。随着数字设备和服务越来越多地触及我们的生活，对以组为中心的身份验证的需求不断增长，但服务不足：为共享访问组拥有的数字资源而设计的身份验证。在这些情况下，对个人帐户要求严格的安全性以及传统的访问控制策略在社会上是不合适的。为了满足这一需求，PI将与东京大学的Koji Yatani博士合作，开发和评估一些以群体为中心的身份验证器，他是创建新型互动系统的专家。这项研究将加强对社会因素如何影响安全行为以及如何利用它们来提高安全敏感性的理解。健壮的身份验证对安全系统至关重要。然而，最近的工作强调需要发现并满足集体共享资源并在很大程度上相互信任的小团体（例如，家庭和小型工作组）的身份验证需求。此外，这项工作应该考虑文化对群体规范和风险感知的影响，因为这些因素应该影响群体认证实践和需求。在这项工作中，我将通过探索和评估跨文化背景下以群体为中心的身份验证来弥合这些理论和实践上的差距。我将开发和部署一个或多个原型组为中心的身份验证器在日本的小团体谁共享空间或资源。这些小组将在现实场景中使用我的原型几天，并报告他们的经验。通过这些努力，我打算更好地了解当地的群体认证需求，以及文化影响如何直接或间接地影响这些需求。该奖项隶属于东亚和太平洋暑期研究所项目，由美国国家科学基金会和日本科学促进会共同资助，支持一名美国研究生进行暑期研究。

Authentication is a process by which computer systems regulate access to protected data. However, authentication is often designed ignorant of the social context in which those systems are embedded. Accordingly, the case of a child accessing her father's tablet is treated the same as that of a stranger trying to access the father's bank account: It is an equally fundamental violation of the security of the system if either is granted access. As digital devices and services touch more of our lives, there is a growing and underserved need for group-centric authentication: authentication designed for shared access to group-owned digital resources. In these cases, requiring strict security for individual accounts along with traditional access control policies is socially inappropriate. To address this need, the PI will work with Dr. Koji Yatani at the University of Tokyo, an expert in creating novel interactive systems, to develop and evaluate a number of group-centric authenticators. This research will strengthen understanding how social factors affect security behaviors and how they can be leveraged to improve security sensitivity.Robust authentication is essential for secure systems. However, recent work highlights a need to uncover and meet the authentication needs of small groups who collectively share resources and largely trust each other (e.g., families and small work groups). Moreover, this work should consider cultural influences on group norms and risk perception as these factors should affect group authentication practices and needs. In this work, I will bridge these gaps in theory and practice by exploring and evaluating group-centric authentication in a cross-cultural setting. I will develop and deploy one or more prototype group-centric authenticators with small groups in Japan who share space or resources. These small groups will use my prototypes in realistic scenarios for several days and report on their experiences. Through these efforts, I intend to better understand local group authentication needs and how cultural influences directly or indirectly affect those needs.This award under the East Asia and Pacific Summer Institutes program supports summer research by a U.S. graduate student and is jointly funded by NSF and the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science.