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Humans Ignore 90% of Security Warnings: Blame Lack of Multi-Tasking Skills

August 22, 2016

It should be no surprise that the biggest problem with securing data is humans. The right software and hardware can help secure data, but humans are the biggest problem. So why is that? According to a recent study by researchers at Brigham Young University, humans are just not good at multi-tasking. If your focus is somewhere else when an important security warning pops up, there's a good chance (up to 90%) it will be dismissed and completely ignored. For instance, if a security alert appeared while a user was closing a webpage, 74% would dismiss the warning dialog.

The researchers found that attention to the warnings improved if the they were timed to appear between primary tasks. I agree with the author of the article that users are tired of website popups and see security warnings as nothing more than interruptions to what they are trying to accomplish.

Perhaps the real messages is…slow down and smell the roses.

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