ANALYZING USER TRADEOFFS FOR ENCRYPTED EMAIL SERVICES

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2018

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Abstract

Securing online communication, especially in email settings, is challenging. End-to-end encryption achieves maximal security; however, introducing search capabilities is complicated, potentially making it impractical for email. One option is to locally decrypt and index emails to incorporate search, but this requires significant client-side storage. Encryption that is searchable at the server-side limits local storage, but requires other compromises as well. This thesis presents a study using conjoint analysis to understand user tradeoffs related to email features in order to propose a solution for providing usable, yet secure, email service. The results suggest that while it is ideal to have maximum privacy, users rely heavily on the features present in standard insecure email services. Furthermore, with about half of the participants reporting local device storage as a concern, searchable encryption could be a feasible secure email service solution for some users.

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