Why users cannot use security

With an increasing range of potential threats, the use of security within end-user systems and applications is becoming ever more important. However, a significant obstacle to achieving this can be the usability of the security features that are offered, and although related functionality is now provided in a wide range of end-user applications, the users themselves will fail to benefit if they cannot make it work for them. This paper highlights the importance of enabling users to protect themselves, and identifies that they may currently encounter problems in terms of finding, understanding, and ultimately using the security features that are meant to be at their disposal. The security options within Microsoft Word are used to provide illustrative examples of typical problems, with consequent suggestions to improve both the presentation and guidance available to users within such applications.