Do Users Sacrifice Security for Speed and Ease-of-Use on Smartphones?

Abstract

Storing credentials on smartphones to perform online activities increases ease-of-use (EoU) and speed. However, such practices increase security risks, especially if users use a number of applications or store data on their smartphones. Risks become more complicated by keeping smartphones online. This work aims to find potential relationships between security perceptions of smartphone users and their ease-of-use and speed preferences. Two user attitudes are defined as “not considering risk” and “risk exaggeration.” User ease-of-use and speed preferences are limited with the factors related to storing credentials on a smartphone and always keeping the device online. A survey of 154 participants was conducted through convenience sampling. Through regression analyses, logarithmic causality relations are found between EoU and speed and attitudes of not considering risk or risk exaggeration; so the participants preferred to take advantage of EoU and speed despite the fact that they were aware of the risks.