A World Full of Privacy and Security (Mis)conceptions? Findings of a Representative Survey in 12 Countries

• Main Authors: Herbert, Franziska, Becker, Steffen, Schaewitz, Leonie, Hielscher, Jonas, Kowalewski, Marvin, Sasse, M. Angela, Acar, Yasemin, Dürmuth, Markus
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: 22-12-2022
• Subjects: Computer Science - Cryptography and Security
• DOI: 10.48550/arxiv.2212.10382

Misconceptions about digital security and privacy topics in the general
public frequently lead to insecure behavior. However, little is known about the
prevalence and extent of such misconceptions in a global context. In this work,
we present the results of the first large-scale survey of a global population
on misconceptions: We conducted an online survey with n = 12, 351 participants
in 12 countries on four continents. By investigating influencing factors of
misconceptions around eight common security and privacy topics (including E2EE,
Wi-Fi, VPN, and malware), we find the country of residence to be the strongest
estimate for holding misconceptions. We also identify differences between
non-Western and Western countries, demonstrating the need for region-specific
research on user security knowledge, perceptions, and behavior. While we did
not observe many outright misconceptions, we did identify a lack of
understanding and uncertainty about several fundamental privacy and security
topics.