I am a scholar in human-computer interaction and assistant professor at the University of North Carolina at Charlotte, where I direct the Security and Privacy Experiences (SPEX) research group. I am a faculty member of the Human-Centered Computing (HCC) Lab, Center for Cyber Defense and Network Assurance (CyberDNA), Center for Energy Security and Reliability (CESaR), and Center for Humane AI Studies (CHAIS).
I work in usable privacy and security. My focus is on understanding how people's security attitudes and social environments weigh in their decision to adopt - or not adopt - secure behaviors (such as sharing passwords securely or ignoring UX cues to scams and "fake news"). I employ a mix of qualitative and quantitative methods from social science, computer science, and design. My work also is informed by prior experiences as a journalist, IT/UX specialist, and social media manager.
In 2018-19, I created the SA-6 security attitude scale. SA-6 is a six-item, self-report measure of a person's engagement with and attentiveness to cybersecurity measures. You are free to use it with attribution. Also, see my SA-13 inventory and the associated working paper for items measuring resistance and concernedness.
For Fall 2024, I am teaching two face-to-face courses: ITIS 4214: Usable Security and Privacy (an undergraduate course that counts for both the Cybersecurity and the Human-Centered Computing concentrations in Computer Science), and ITIS 4353/5353: Social Technology Design (a mixed undergraduate/graduate course that counts for the Human-Centered Computing concentration). I also am mentoring 3 independent-study students and a Special Topics course for graduate students in our pilot Cybersecurity Clinic. Contact me if you would like to help coach our clinic students or be set up as a client.
Interested in survey research for HCI? Check out (and comment on) my list of books, papers and blog posts that either helped me or are good exemplars (yes, some of them are my own papers) at this link. Also, see my slides on Subjective Methods.
Recent news:
- I am hiring for Spring 2025! My group has funding for a new project to investigate how to improve classification and moderation of online posts that are likely to be associated with real-life violence. If you are interested in a Ph.D. with a focus in human-computer interaction or computational social science, please send me your CV and a short list of qualifications and research interests.
- My CHI 2024 short paper "A Framework for Reasoning about Social Influences in the Security Adoption Process" is available online in the ACM library. This is an assigned reading for my course module "Social Cybersecurity" at UNC Charlotte. [ Paper ] [Video] [Course Module]
- Thrilled to be named a 2024 Google Research Scholar in Human-Computer Interaction! With their financial support and mentorship, we are building a human-in-the-loop AI app for providing security and privacy advice.