Event
M.S. Thesis Defense: Ciara Lynton
Monday, April 9, 2018
4:00 p.m.
AVW 3460
Maria Hoo
301 405 3681
mch@umd.edu
ANNOUNCEMENT: M.S. Thesis Defense
Name: Ciara Lynton
Committee:
Professor Charalampos (Babis) Papamanthou, Chair |
Professor Michelle Mazurek |
Professor Tudor Dumitras
Date & Time: Monday, April 9, 2018 at 4:00PM
Place: AVW 3460 |
Title: Analyzing User Tradeoffs for Encrypted Email Services
Abstract: Securing online communication, especially in email settings, is challenging. End-to-end encryption achieves maximal security; however, introducing search capabilities is complicated, which may make it impractical for email. Researchers developed methods of locally decrypting and indexing 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 better understand user tradeoffs related to email service features in order to propose a solution for providing usable, yet secure, email service options. The results suggest that while it is ideal to have maximum privacy, users rely heavily on the features present in standard insecure email services. In fact, most users would abandon maximum privacy to keep customary search and portability features. Moreover, with over half of users reporting local device storage as a concern, searchable encryption could be a feasible solution for securing email services.