Symbolism in Computer Security Warnings: Signal Icons & Signal Words

Security warning is often encountered by the end users when they use their system. It is a form of communication to notify the users of possible consequences in the future. These threats have always been evolved with the advancement of technologies. The attacks threaten the end users with many harmful effects such as malware attacks. However, security warning keeps being ignored due to various reasons. One of the reasons is lack of attention towards warnings. The end users feels burden and treat security task as a secondary rather than primary task. To divert user’s mind to read and comprehend the security warnings, it is important to capture the user’s attention. Signal words and signal icons are important in the security warning as it is the elements that could help user to heed the warnings. A survey study has been conducted with 60 participants in regards to the perception towards attractiveness and understanding of the signal words and icons. It can be revealed that end users significantly feel that the icon with the exclamation marks is attractive and easy to understand. However, only one of three hypotheses is proven to be significant.

@article{Samsudin2016,
  title     = {Symbolism in Computer Security Warnings: Signal Icons & Signal Words},
  journal   = {International Journal of Advanced Computer Science and Applications},
  volume    = {7},
  number    = {10},
  year      = {2016},
  publisher = {The Science and Information Organization},
  author    = {Nur Farhana Samsudin and Zarul Fitri Zaaba and Manmeet Mahinderjit Singh and Azman Samsudin},
  doi       = {10.14569/IJACSA.2016.071020},
  url       = {https://doi.org/10.14569/IJACSA.2016.071020}
}