Social Influence Security Feature Adoption

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Solution Overview

Problem

Users of computing devices are often unaware of or unmotivated to use available security features, leading to increased vulnerability to security threats, as conventional approaches fail to effectively raise awareness and encourage the adoption of security tools.

Innovation Solution

A system that utilizes social influence by informing users that their social connections have enabled security features, providing options to enable these features, and using social proof to motivate users to do the same, while maintaining privacy settings to protect sensitive information.

Engineering Contradictions & Design Principles

VSEngineering Contradiction Analysis

1Reliability

If conventional security tools and features are provided to users, then security protection capability is improved, but user awareness and adoption rate deteriorate

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvesecurity protection capabilityVSAvoiduser awareness of security features

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSLoss of information

Solution Approach 1:

The system provides feedback to users by notifying them when their social connections enable security features, creating a feedback loop that increases awareness and motivates adoption without compromising security protection capability

Inventive Principle:

Principle #23Feedback

Solution Approach 2:

The patent uses social connections as intermediaries to transmit security awareness information between users, indirectly improving user awareness through trusted social networks rather than direct system notifications

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

2Reliability

If conventional security features are made available to users, then security protection capability is improved, but user motivation to adopt security features deteriorates

Engineering Contradiction:

Improvesecurity protection capabilityVSAvoiduser motivation to enable security features

Core Design Contradiction:

ReliabilityVSEase of operation

Solution Approach 1:

The system implements feedback mechanisms that notify users about their social connections' security feature adoption status, creating social motivation and increasing user willingness to enable security features

Inventive Principle:

Principle #23Feedback

Solution Approach 2:

The patent changes the motivational parameter from individual decision-making to social influence-driven adoption, leveraging social proof to improve user motivation without altering the security protection capability

Inventive Principle:

Principle #35Parameter changes

3Loss of information

If social influence information is provided to users about security feature adoption, then user awareness and motivation are improved, but privacy protection deteriorates

Engineering Contradiction:

Improveuser awareness of security featuresVSAvoidprivacy exposure of social connections

Core Design Contradiction:

Loss of informationVSObject-affected harmful factors

Solution Approach 1:

The system applies different privacy protection levels to different information types, providing security awareness information while protecting sensitive personal details of social connections through selective disclosure

Inventive Principle:

Principle #3Local quality

Solution Approach 2:

The patent uses aggregated and anonymized social connection data as an intermediary to convey security awareness information without exposing sensitive personal information about individual social connections

Inventive Principle:

Principle #24Intermediary (Mediator)

Data Source

PatentUS10007791B2Systems and methods for increasing security sensitivity based on social influence

Publication Date: 2018.06.26 META PLATFORMS INC

AI summary

Systems, methods, and non-transitory computer-readable media can provide a set of security features capable of being enabled by a user associated with an online service. In some implementations, it can be determined that at least one security feature in the set has yet to be enabled by the user. A communication can be provided to the user. In some instances, the communication can indicate that a quantity of social connections associated with the user has already enabled the at least one security feature. One or more options to enable the at least one security feature can be provided to the user.