CYBERSECURITY, FUTURE TRENDS & DESIGNERS
Enhancing Cybersecurity By Providing Better User Experience and Landscape of Emerging Technologies
My thoughts on Cybersecurity. Current and future trends in cyber industry that a UX Designer should focus on.
Over the innumerable data breaches that have been surfacing in a steady progression, the discussion about user protection and security is getting more significant than any other time in recent memory. (Visualisation for security breaches)
Users expect organizations to be reliable and secure. Security is vital while delivering a usable and dependable service to users. Nevertheless, it is a fine balance between an easy to use service and the one that gets irritating to users because of the number of additional steps it requires to make it more secure.
Major Issues Security Industry Is Facing When It Comes to User Experience
These mistakes are major but also Basic. Avoiding them is pretty easy if we follow some methods.
Not ensuring whether users use strong passwords or not
Aha! This is a main door for hackers to get into users’ space. By far the most important aspect according to cyber experts. Passwords are the main line of protection, so vendors ensure that users use strong passwords. Sadly users often face a bad experience when vendors try to increase security.
- Asking users multiple(like a two-factors authentication) entries helps them to avoid threats.
2. It’s likewise imperative to use a different password for each enlisted site and to change it ever 30–60 days.
Both the above methods are done at the cost of user’s experience.
A password management framework can help via automating this cycle and eliminating the requirement for users to remember different passwords. Also, we can try to reduce users’ frustration with help of design principles below.
Here are some basic inputs that I think can help organizations to provide good user experience and maintain the superior level of security hand in hand.
Insights for Designers to Help Security Industry to Maintain User Experience along with Security
- Augment user protection by just asking basic information
It is much simpler to protect the information of users if only it is asked for just basic information. It might be acceptable to take a look at all the data you are asking that your users give through form fields and check whether they are for the most part vital. By shortening form fields to just what is required, you can improve the general user experience by making the information exchange process simpler and faster.
2. Chunking
Chunking provides large amounts of information in smaller pieces. Breaking down a information in to tiny pieces helps users to comprehend information in a better way.
3. Focusing on Micro interactions
These are small interactions that are intended for a solitary reason or task. They help navigate users through the interface and give them visual criticism about whether their activities were successful or not. Use them to celebrate a users’ achievement when following safety efforts and completing them.
Micro interactions can be utilised to better security by speaking with users why passwords must be a sure length or help walk them through some other safety efforts that must be taken while signing up as a member.
One way of doing it is providing feedback with micro interactions in between the chunks of information like the wireframes provided below.
4. Summarize Privacy Policies
Privacy policies are legitimately required if the user information is asked and stored by an organisation. But in many cases this turns into a dark pattern. Summarizing these privacy policies into brief info can be perceived by your users easily and keeps them educated. You can provide an option to see all terms and conditions.
How Security Industry Can Integrate with UX Industry and Enhance Experiences for Users
UX and Security are both fundamental for any framework. Truth be told, it has as of late been discovered that 70% of customers abandon purchases because of bad user experience and there is a hacker attack every 39 seconds. while using their smartphone due to terrible user experience and security concerns.
The essential worries of user experience creators and security experts lie in these following questions:
- For user experience planners the question is: How would you plan the security experience to fit the necessities of the digital personality. Behind the character, there is an individual with similar essential needs — security among the most basic.
- For security experts, the question is: How would you empower your users’ job in a situation, where the speed and comfort nullify the conventional comprehension of security — condition, where user experience supersedes security?
What more could be done?
For example, When users are your employees, Single Sign-In solutions are an incredible 2D method to improve the confirmation cycle without abandoning security in the process because your users would have the option to sign in using their corporate identities, which doesn’t require additional validation. Not only that, they are proof that simple and safe work is extraordinary together for your company as well as your users providing them a soothing and secure user experience.
Whereas, When users are your customers in the pre-sales process, companies experience a security gap while capturing a customer due to poor balance between user experience and security. An idea to solve is, if we introduce virtual reality at this point, then we can guarantee an impeccable user experience along with customer security.
For example, SeatMap VR in Emirates’ website experience area provides the 3D representation of the elements and on-screen data about various factors ensuring the customer security and making it easier for customers to make a call while ensuring smooth user experience.
Advantage of using 3D models, AR, VR etc., it declutters the screen space which we designers always find tricky. These technologies provide new ways to create signature moments/wow factors.
- Take advantage of Artificial Intelligence
Profound learning algorithms are being utilized for face recognition, natural language processing, threat detection, and a lot more ideas.
Most online protection solutions are based on discovery engines that have been founded on the human rationale, anyway staying up with the latest and over the most recent threats, advancements and gadgets can be near difficult to do physically. Artificial intelligence (AI) quickens the identification of new security threats and responds to them and can assist with hindering cyber attacks before they spread all over to affect user experience.
Future Trends in Security Industry to Enhance User Experience
- Implementation of 5G Technology
Information volumes and the number of connected devices and sensors are set to increase with faster transfer speeds. Electronic health applications will gather information about a user’s well being, new vehicle technology will screen a user’s movements, and smart applications will gather data about how users live and work. With so much individual information being gathered from users, 5G innovation will mean higher levels of protection from breaches and information theft is much high.
- Artificial Intelligence
Be that as it may, as the fate of AI advances, it’s likewise being weaponized by cyber criminals to grow progressively refined malware attack strategies. This implies organizations are sending progressed heuristic solutions, instead of depending on definitely known weaknesses and attack signatures.
- Increasing Awareness of Cyber Security
With endless associations going through huge digital changes, awareness of the cyber attacks keeps on developing — for huge companies as well as for independent companies. Security is building up a perpetual spot in the product development life cycle, with DevSecOps (the way toward coordinating secure development best practices and approaches into improvement and organization measures) presently being integrated at all phases of development and considering user experience in mind.
Checklist for Designers
Here is a list that a designer can add into the checklist to cross check whether a designer is able to put the best while designing for better cybersecurity.
- OWASP Top 10: OWASP has a go to list of top 10 vulnerabilities. Make sure you address as many as possible. For your reference, here is an article from @gusandrews : https://www.thoughtworks.com/insights/blog/better-security-design
- Https Encryption: Make sure your web users are using https(instead of http) to evade breaches in unstable regions. In fact, 19 websites in top 100 doesn’t use https encryption.
- Adding additional features for better security: Enhance your site for mobile for a better accessibility yet don’t depend on applications for a look at and work in security features like Content Security Policy, integrate external scripts as an additional layer of security for even confided in contents. Another example is finger print in smart phones.
- Two-Factor Authentication: Subset of point 3. Extra entry provides added security. Additional actions need better experience.
- Passphrase: Find ways to motivate users to have stronger passwords. Even better if we can encourage them to have “Passphrase” as suggested by experts. (We haven’t seen this in action in many top websites).
- Prepare for future updates: Make your users aware to ceaselessly update their applications.
Final Thoughts - Balance Between Security and User Experience:
User experience is significant for the accomplishments of your business, to satisfy your end-users. Network security is still as significant, because it protects the prosperity of your organization. Luckily, in 2020, You get the opportunity to keep your primary concern(UX) without compromising well being(Security).
