A study of user-friendly hash comparison schemes

Hsu Chun Hsiao; Yue Hsun Lin; Ahren Studer; Cassandra Studer; King Hang Wang; Hiroaki Kikuchi; Adrian Perrig; Hung Min Sun; Bo Yin Yang

doi:10.1109/ACSAC.2009.20

A study of user-friendly hash comparison schemes

Hsu Chun Hsiao^*
, Yue Hsun Lin
, Ahren Studer
, Cassandra Studer
, King Hang Wang
, Hiroaki Kikuchi
, Adrian Perrig
, Hung Min Sun
, Bo Yin Yang

^*Corresponding author for this work

Department of Computer Science

Research output: Chapter in book/report/conference proceeding › Conference proceeding › peer-review

34 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Several security protocols require a human to compare two hash values to ensure successful completion. When the hash values are represented as long sequences of numbers, humans may make a mistake or require significant time and patience to accurately compare the hash values. To improve usability during comparison, a number of researchers have proposed various hash representations that use words, sentences, or images rather than numbers. This is the first work to perform a comparative study of these hash comparison schemes to determine which scheme allows the fastest and most accurate comparison. To evaluate the schemes, we performed an online user study with more than 400 participants. Our findings indicate that only a small number of schemes allow quick and accurate comparison across a wide range of subjects from varying backgrounds.

Original language	English
Title of host publication	25th Annual Computer Conference Security Applications, ACSAC 2009
Publisher	IEEE
Pages	105-114
Number of pages	10
ISBN (Print)	9780769539195, 9781424453276
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1109/ACSAC.2009.20
Publication status	Published - 7 Dec 2009
Event	25th Annual Computer Conference Security Applications, ACSAC 2009 - Honolulu, HI, United States Duration: 7 Dec 2009 → 11 Dec 2009 https://doi.org/10.1109/acsac16390.2009

Publication series

Name	Proceedings - Annual Computer Security Applications Conference, ACSAC
Publisher	IEEE
ISSN (Print)	1063-9527

Conference

Conference	25th Annual Computer Conference Security Applications, ACSAC 2009
Abbreviated title	ACSAC 2009
Country/Territory	United States
City	Honolulu, HI
Period	7/12/09 → 11/12/09
Other	Conference Proceedings
Internet address	https://doi.org/10.1109/acsac16390.2009

User-Defined Keywords

Human factors
Security

Access to Document

10.1109/ACSAC.2009.20

Cite this

Hsiao, H. C., Lin, Y. H., Studer, A., Studer, C., Wang, K. H., Kikuchi, H., Perrig, A., Sun, H. M., & Yang, B. Y. (2009). A study of user-friendly hash comparison schemes. In 25th Annual Computer Conference Security Applications, ACSAC 2009 (pp. 105-114). (Proceedings - Annual Computer Security Applications Conference, ACSAC). IEEE. https://doi.org/10.1109/ACSAC.2009.20

@inproceedings{d9fe8f500cee421ab9d9243cc443a681,

title = "A study of user-friendly hash comparison schemes",

abstract = "Several security protocols require a human to compare two hash values to ensure successful completion. When the hash values are represented as long sequences of numbers, humans may make a mistake or require significant time and patience to accurately compare the hash values. To improve usability during comparison, a number of researchers have proposed various hash representations that use words, sentences, or images rather than numbers. This is the first work to perform a comparative study of these hash comparison schemes to determine which scheme allows the fastest and most accurate comparison. To evaluate the schemes, we performed an online user study with more than 400 participants. Our findings indicate that only a small number of schemes allow quick and accurate comparison across a wide range of subjects from varying backgrounds.",

keywords = "Human factors, Security",

author = "Hsiao, \{Hsu Chun\} and Lin, \{Yue Hsun\} and Ahren Studer and Cassandra Studer and Wang, \{King Hang\} and Hiroaki Kikuchi and Adrian Perrig and Sun, \{Hung Min\} and Yang, \{Bo Yin\}",

note = "This research was supported in part by the iCAST project, National Science Council, Taiwan under the Grant NSC96–3114-P-001–002-Y, CyLab at Carnegie Mellon under grants DAAD19–02-1–0389 and MURI W 911 NF 0710287 from the Army Research Office, grants CNS-0347807 and CCF-0424422 from the National Science Foundation. The views and conclusions contained here are those of the authors and should not be interpreted as necessarily representing the official policies or endorsements, either express or implied, of ARO, CMU, iCAST, NSF, or the U.S. Government or any of its agencies. Publisher Copyright: {\textcopyright} 2009 IEEE; 25th Annual Computer Conference Security Applications, ACSAC 2009, ACSAC 2009 ; Conference date: 07-12-2009 Through 11-12-2009",

year = "2009",

month = dec,

day = "7",

doi = "10.1109/ACSAC.2009.20",

language = "English",

isbn = "9780769539195",

series = "Proceedings - Annual Computer Security Applications Conference, ACSAC",

publisher = "IEEE",

pages = "105--114",

booktitle = "25th Annual Computer Conference Security Applications, ACSAC 2009",

address = "United States",

url = "https://doi.org/10.1109/acsac16390.2009",

}

Hsiao, HC, Lin, YH, Studer, A, Studer, C, Wang, KH, Kikuchi, H, Perrig, A, Sun, HM & Yang, BY 2009, A study of user-friendly hash comparison schemes. in 25th Annual Computer Conference Security Applications, ACSAC 2009. Proceedings - Annual Computer Security Applications Conference, ACSAC, IEEE, pp. 105-114, 25th Annual Computer Conference Security Applications, ACSAC 2009, Honolulu, HI, United States, 7/12/09. https://doi.org/10.1109/ACSAC.2009.20

A study of user-friendly hash comparison schemes. / Hsiao, Hsu Chun; Lin, Yue Hsun; Studer, Ahren et al.
25th Annual Computer Conference Security Applications, ACSAC 2009. IEEE, 2009. p. 105-114 (Proceedings - Annual Computer Security Applications Conference, ACSAC).

Research output: Chapter in book/report/conference proceeding › Conference proceeding › peer-review

TY - GEN

T1 - A study of user-friendly hash comparison schemes

AU - Hsiao, Hsu Chun

AU - Lin, Yue Hsun

AU - Studer, Ahren

AU - Studer, Cassandra

AU - Wang, King Hang

AU - Kikuchi, Hiroaki

AU - Perrig, Adrian

AU - Sun, Hung Min

AU - Yang, Bo Yin

N1 - This research was supported in part by the iCAST project, National Science Council, Taiwan under the Grant NSC96–3114-P-001–002-Y, CyLab at Carnegie Mellon under grants DAAD19–02-1–0389 and MURI W 911 NF 0710287 from the Army Research Office, grants CNS-0347807 and CCF-0424422 from the National Science Foundation. The views and conclusions contained here are those of the authors and should not be interpreted as necessarily representing the official policies or endorsements, either express or implied, of ARO, CMU, iCAST, NSF, or the U.S. Government or any of its agencies. Publisher Copyright: © 2009 IEEE

PY - 2009/12/7

Y1 - 2009/12/7

N2 - Several security protocols require a human to compare two hash values to ensure successful completion. When the hash values are represented as long sequences of numbers, humans may make a mistake or require significant time and patience to accurately compare the hash values. To improve usability during comparison, a number of researchers have proposed various hash representations that use words, sentences, or images rather than numbers. This is the first work to perform a comparative study of these hash comparison schemes to determine which scheme allows the fastest and most accurate comparison. To evaluate the schemes, we performed an online user study with more than 400 participants. Our findings indicate that only a small number of schemes allow quick and accurate comparison across a wide range of subjects from varying backgrounds.

AB - Several security protocols require a human to compare two hash values to ensure successful completion. When the hash values are represented as long sequences of numbers, humans may make a mistake or require significant time and patience to accurately compare the hash values. To improve usability during comparison, a number of researchers have proposed various hash representations that use words, sentences, or images rather than numbers. This is the first work to perform a comparative study of these hash comparison schemes to determine which scheme allows the fastest and most accurate comparison. To evaluate the schemes, we performed an online user study with more than 400 participants. Our findings indicate that only a small number of schemes allow quick and accurate comparison across a wide range of subjects from varying backgrounds.

KW - Human factors

KW - Security

UR - https://www.scopus.com/pages/publications/77950844750

U2 - 10.1109/ACSAC.2009.20

DO - 10.1109/ACSAC.2009.20

M3 - Conference proceeding

AN - SCOPUS:77950844750

SN - 9780769539195

SN - 9781424453276

T3 - Proceedings - Annual Computer Security Applications Conference, ACSAC

SP - 105

EP - 114

BT - 25th Annual Computer Conference Security Applications, ACSAC 2009

PB - IEEE

T2 - 25th Annual Computer Conference Security Applications, ACSAC 2009

Y2 - 7 December 2009 through 11 December 2009

ER -

A study of user-friendly hash comparison schemes

Abstract

Publication series

Conference

User-Defined Keywords

Access to Document

Other files and links

Fingerprint

Cite this