Chapter Twelve. The Usability of Security Devices

Ugo Piazzalunga, Paolo Salvaneschi, and Paolo Coffetti

AN INCREASING NUMBER OF HARDWARE DEVICES ARE BECOMING AVAILABLE TO HELP USERS ACHIEVE A higher level of security in authentication systems. However, little research has been performed on the usability of these devices. This chapter takes a first step toward understanding the usability issues associated with security devices. After briefly reviewing security devices, we define an experimental approach suitable for their usability evaluation. We apply this approach to evaluating cryptographic smart card devices, and we report and comment on the results, including the impact of usability on security. We conclude by presenting general recommendations to minimize usability problems while deploying security devices.