The Myths of Security

Chapter 41. Usability and Security

I’ve talked about this topic a few times in this book. Often, there’s a tension between usability and security, where stronger security generally results in a less usable system, and a more usable system is often less secure.

I think this is a false dichotomy. It’s certainly possible to have systems that are both easy to use and secure. For example, in Chapter 35 we talked about improving the security of password systems by applying a technology called zero-knowledge password protocols. Done right, implementing this type of system would also improve usability, because it would make traditional passwords far more secure than they are today.

There are plenty of other examples where security and usability go hand-in-hand. If you give users the ability to choose between a secure connection built on the strongest encryption that has provably strong properties, and something legacy that everybody’s heard of (but might have security problems), plenty of people will choose the system they’ve heard of. Heck, if you give people the option to turn it off, some of them will. It’s far better to have no options, and eliminating options also leads to the simplest user interface. Just give people a secure connection.

When it seems like security and usability trade off, there’s a good chance that there’s a much better solution that got ignored. Maybe the designer didn’t take the time to look for it or maybe he didn’t take the time to fight for it. Either way, everybody ...