Why Johnny the Developer Can't Work with Public Key
Certificates: An Experimental Study of OpenSSL Usability

D 2018

Why Johnny the Developer Can't Work with Public Key Certificates: An Experimental Study of OpenSSL Usability

UKROP, Martin and Václav MATYÁŠ

Basic information

Original name

Why Johnny the Developer Can't Work with Public Key Certificates: An Experimental Study of OpenSSL Usability

Authors

UKROP, Martin (703 Slovakia, guarantor, belonging to the institution) and Václav MATYÁŠ (203 Czech Republic, belonging to the institution)

Edition

Švýcarsko, Topics in Cryptology – CT-RSA 2018: The Cryptographers' Track at the RSA Conference 2018, p. 45-64, 20 pp. 2018

Publisher

Springer International Publishing

Other information

Language

English

Type of outcome

Stať ve sborníku

Field of Study

10201 Computer sciences, information science, bioinformatics

Country of publisher

United States of America

Confidentiality degree

není předmětem státního či obchodního tajemství

Publication form

printed version "print"

References:

URL

Impact factor

Impact factor: 0.402 in 2005

RIV identification code

RIV/00216224:14330/18:00100813

Organization unit

Faculty of Informatics

ISBN

978-3-319-76952-3

ISSN

DOI

http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-76953-0_3

UT WoS

000445246500003

Keywords in English

usable security;cryptographic library;API

Abstract

V originále

There have been many studies exposing poor usability of security software for the common end user. However, only a few inspect the usability challenges faced by more knowledgeable users. We conducted an experiment to empirically assess usability of the command line interface of OpenSSL, a well known and widely used cryptographic library. Based on the results, we try to propose specific improvements that would encourage more secure behavior. We observed 87 developers/administrators at two certificate-related tasks in a controlled environment. Furthermore, we collected participant opinions on both the tool interface and available documentation. Based on the overall results, we deem the OpenSSL usability insufficient according to both user opinions and standardized measures. Moreover, the perceived usability seems to be correlated with previous experience and used resources. There was a great disproportion between the participant views of a successful task accomplishment and the reality. A general dissatisfaction with both OpenSSL interface and its manual page was shared among the majority of the participants. As hinted by a participant, OpenSSL gradually “turned into a complicated set of sharp kitchen knives” – it can perform various jobs very well, but laymen risk stabbing themselves in the process. This highlights the necessity of a usable design even for tools targeted at experienced users (Supplementary material available at crocs.fi.muni.cz/papers/rsa2018).

Links

GBP202/12/G061, research and development project

Name: Centrum excelence - Institut teoretické informatiky (CE-ITI) (Acronym: CE-ITI)

Investor: Czech Science Foundation

Citovat

UKROP, Martin and Václav MATYÁŠ. Why Johnny the Developer Can't Work with Public Key Certificates: An Experimental Study of OpenSSL Usability. In Nigel P. Smart. Topics in Cryptology – CT-RSA 2018: The Cryptographers' Track at the RSA Conference 2018. Švýcarsko: Springer International Publishing, 2018, p. 45-64. ISBN 978-3-319-76952-3. Available from: https://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-76953-0_3.

@inproceedings{1406887,
   author = {Ukrop, Martin and Matyáš, Václav},
   address = {Švýcarsko},
   booktitle = {Topics in Cryptology – CT-RSA 2018: The Cryptographers' Track at the RSA Conference 2018},
   doi = {http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-76953-0_3},
   editor = {Nigel P. Smart},
   keywords = {usable security;cryptographic library;API},
   howpublished = {tištěná verze "print"},
   language = {eng},
   location = {Švýcarsko},
   isbn = {978-3-319-76952-3},
   pages = {45-64},
   publisher = {Springer International Publishing},
   title = {Why Johnny the Developer Can't Work with Public Key Certificates: An Experimental Study of OpenSSL Usability},
   url = {https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007%2F978-3-319-76953-0_3},
   year = {2018}
}

TY  - JOUR
ID  - 1406887
AU  - Ukrop, Martin - Matyáš, Václav
PY  - 2018
TI  - Why Johnny the Developer Can't Work with Public Key Certificates: An Experimental Study of OpenSSL Usability
PB  - Springer International Publishing
CY  - Švýcarsko
SN  - 9783319769523
KW  - usable security;cryptographic library;API
UR  - https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007%2F978-3-319-76953-0_3
L2  - https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007%2F978-3-319-76953-0_3
N2  - There have been many studies exposing poor usability of security software for the common end user. However, only a few inspect the usability challenges faced by more knowledgeable users. We conducted an experiment to empirically assess usability of the command line interface of OpenSSL, a well known and widely used cryptographic library. Based on the results, we try to propose specific improvements that would encourage more secure behavior. We observed 87 developers/administrators at two certificate-related tasks in a controlled environment. Furthermore, we collected participant opinions on both the tool interface and available documentation. Based on the overall results, we deem the OpenSSL usability insufficient according to both user opinions and standardized measures. Moreover, the perceived usability seems to be correlated with previous experience and used resources. There was a great disproportion between the participant views of a successful task accomplishment and the reality. A general dissatisfaction with both OpenSSL interface and its manual page was shared among the majority of the participants. As hinted by a participant, OpenSSL gradually “turned into a complicated set of sharp kitchen knives” – it can perform various jobs very well, but laymen risk stabbing themselves in the process. This highlights the necessity of a usable design even for tools targeted at experienced users (Supplementary material available at crocs.fi.muni.cz/papers/rsa2018).
ER  -

UKROP, Martin and Václav MATYÁŠ. Why Johnny the Developer Can't Work with Public Key Certificates: An Experimental Study of OpenSSL Usability. In Nigel P. Smart. \textit{Topics in Cryptology – CT-RSA 2018: The Cryptographers' Track at the RSA Conference 2018}. Švýcarsko: Springer International Publishing, 2018, p.~45-64. ISBN~978-3-319-76952-3. Available from: https://dx.doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-76953-0\_{}3.

Detailed Information on Publication Record