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Recognising Diversity in Older Adults' Cybersecurity Needs

Authors:

Benjamin Alan Morrison,

James Nicholson,

Lynne Coventry,

Pam BriggsAuthors Info & Claims

GoodIT '23: Proceedings of the 2023 ACM Conference on Information Technology for Social Good

Pages 437 - 445

https://doi.org/10.1145/3582515.3609565

Published: 06 September 2023 Publication History

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Abstract

Older adults continue to be targeted by cybersecurity attacks: a trend which shows no signs of slowing, and one that has become even more problematic given that many older adults adopted new digital technologies during the Covid-19 lockdowns. Yet there remains a scarcity of solutions designed to help older adults protect themselves online. In part, this is due to a lack of understanding of the specific needs of older adults, who are the fastest growing, and arguably most technologically diverse population on the internet. This study draws upon recent qualitative research to identify key dimensions which are likely to influence older adult cybersecurity behaviour and subsequent vulnerability. We show how these dimensions can be used, for example, to develop a wide range of personas that help illustrate the range of abilities and attitudes in the older adult population. The dimensions outlined here can be used to help researchers, designers, and developers better understand the diverse needs of older adult users when developing digital or security solutions for this population.

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Cited By

Nawi HOmar SBasaruddin S(2025)Securing the Silver Surfers: Cybersecurity Awareness Among Older Adults2025 19th International Conference on Ubiquitous Information Management and Communication (IMCOM)10.1109/IMCOM64595.2025.10857480(1-7)Online publication date: 3-Jan-2025
https://doi.org/10.1109/IMCOM64595.2025.10857480
Evripidou SDaniel McKendrick Watson J(2024)Understanding Operational Technology Personnel's Mindsets and Their Effect on Cybersecurity Perceptions: A Qualitative Study With Operational Technology Cybersecurity PractitionersProceedings of the 2024 European Symposium on Usable Security10.1145/3688459.3688472(137-154)Online publication date: 30-Sep-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3688459.3688472

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GoodIT '23: Proceedings of the 2023 ACM Conference on Information Technology for Social Good

September 2023

560 pages

ISBN:9798400701160

DOI:10.1145/3582515

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Published: 06 September 2023

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Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC)

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GoodIT '23

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GoodIT '23: ACM International Conference on Information Technology for Social Good

September 6 - 8, 2023

Lisbon, Portugal

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Cited By

Nawi HOmar SBasaruddin S(2025)Securing the Silver Surfers: Cybersecurity Awareness Among Older Adults2025 19th International Conference on Ubiquitous Information Management and Communication (IMCOM)10.1109/IMCOM64595.2025.10857480(1-7)Online publication date: 3-Jan-2025
https://doi.org/10.1109/IMCOM64595.2025.10857480
Evripidou SDaniel McKendrick Watson J(2024)Understanding Operational Technology Personnel's Mindsets and Their Effect on Cybersecurity Perceptions: A Qualitative Study With Operational Technology Cybersecurity PractitionersProceedings of the 2024 European Symposium on Usable Security10.1145/3688459.3688472(137-154)Online publication date: 30-Sep-2024
https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3688459.3688472

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