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Cybersecurity

Researchers will investigate how chatbots can make us safer online

Cyberattacks on citizens have become more common in Denmark. In a new project, SDU, with support from TrygFonden, aims to improve Danes' digital security in everyday life.

By Camilla Wissing Mortensen, , 9/25/2023

Cyberattacks are becoming increasingly common, also in Denmark, and the digital threats are not just aimed at businesses. As private individuals, we also risk being exposed to attacks when we move around the internet.

The likelihood of becoming a victim of a cyberattack is amplified by both low security levels and poor digital behavior. This is explained by Stefanie Sohn, Assistant Professor at the Department of Business and Sustainability, who is leading a new project to make Danes more digitally secure in their daily lives.

- Our individual behavior makes a huge difference in preventing cyberattacks, not only at work but also in our private lives. Therefore, it is important that we also consider a broader audience when developing tools to educate on digital security behavior.

Chatbot to inform about safety

In the project, which is supported by TrygFonden with ca. DKK 3 million, the researchers will investigate how chatbots can be used to get Danes to move around more safely on digital platforms.

What is a chatbot?

A chatbot is a software tool that enables text-based interaction between humans and a technical system through programmed procedures or algorithms. Many people know chatbots as service robots that are integrated into websites to answer questions instead of human service representatives.         

One way the researchers will do this is by developing a special 'digital security chatbot' that provides users with information about good online security behaviour, for example by encouraging us to choose stronger passwords or remember to log out.

 

- Our basic focus is to empirically test a new strategy to get people to move more safely on the internet. We are investigating how an interaction with a digital assistant, i.e. a chatbot that proactively provides information about digital security, can make people behave more safely and make safer choices, says Stefanie Sohn.

 

Understanding human behavior

The project is a collaboration between researchers from social sciences, and computer science. The first step, according to Stefanie Sohn, is to understand the human behavior behind digital security and more specifically, what makes people interact with digital security chatbots.

It's important that we understand what makes people interact with these chatbots to design the chatbots accordingly. This is essential because the whole premise is that the user wants to interact and not ignore the chatbot's advice and warnings

Stefanie Sohn, Assistant Professor

- It's important that we understand what makes people interact with these chatbots to design the chatbots accordingly. This is essential because the whole premise is that the user wants to interact and not ignore the chatbot's advice and warnings.

- In the next step, we then develop a prototype of the chatbot, where we test the chatbot's effect on a number of test subjects and whether the chatbot has the ability to change individuals' digital security behavior both while they use it and afterward, she says.

Will also protect businesses

Ideally, in the future, the chatbot will be embedded in the user's browser, where it will appear on the screen with information about safe online behavior or potential threats. How the chatbot will work specifically depends on the experience gained from the project, emphasizes Stefanie Sohn.

However, she hopes that interaction with a chatbot will prove to have a positive effect on our digital security behavior. Because while there is often a focus on digital security among employees, there is a lack of knowledge about how we as citizens are encouraged to move more safely on the internet outside of work contexts.

- The basic premise of our project is that it is the individual who makes the decisions when traveling digitally. Even when you are employed somewhere, you are still an individual. Therefore, it can also help protect companies in the future as people become more aware of digital threats and the security measures they can take, concludes Stefanie Sohn.

This article is translated with the help of a translating tool

More about the project

The project "Digital Security Behavior" aims to improve digital and online security, i.e. the protection of internet-connected devices such as computers and smartphones against unwanted intrusion, by promoting citizens' engagement in digital security behavior.

The project is supported by TrygFonden with ca. DKK 3 million and runs for 3 years.

The project is a collaboration between researchers from the Department of Business and Sustainability, and the Department of Mathematics and Computer Science, both at SDU, and the Department of Software Engineering at LUT University. Digital Democracy Centre (DDC) is a partner in the project.

The core project team consists of:

  • Stefanie Sohn, Project lead, Assistant Professor, Department of Business and Sustainability
  • Peter Mayer, Assistant Professor, Department of Mathematics and Computer Science
  • Oliver Schnittka, Professor, Department of Business and Sustainability
  • Dominik Siemon, Assistant Professor, Department of Engineering, LUT
  • A PhD project will be associated with the research project
About the researcher

Stefanie Sohn is an expert in consumer behavior and researches, among other things, how digital technologies affect our behavior. She is an assistant professor at the Department of Business and Sustainability.

Contact

Editing was completed: 25.09.2023