Our society depends on the reliability and resilience of our infrastructure, which in turn depends on security. Unfortunately, our current software infrastructure is not only insecure, it is insecurable. No user interface can make an insecure system secure. We understand how to build systems whose foundations are vastly more secure, but we are likely to need new interaction designs so that people can use these secure systems securely.
The Norm Hardy Prize is a $10,000 annual award for work that helps users make wise decisions. The Prize will recognize work that:
The long term goal of the Norm Hardy Prize is a set of design principles and tools that encourage developers to create interaction designs that make it easy for people to use secure systems securely.
To be eligible for the $10k prize, please submit work which discusses at least one of these four criteria:
Submissions must include a description of the work and how it contributes to the stated goals of the Prize. They may include links to working prototypes that the judges can evaluate. Wire frames for new affordances will be accepted, but working prototypes are preferred. User studies that only evaluate existing systems are not eligible for the Prize. Work that proposes metrics for usable security must demonstrate that it can differentiate systems based on the ability of users to make good choices. Work on how users build mental models of the systems they use must demonstrate that these models can be translated into guidance for developers.
Norm Hardy was a computer scientist most widely known for identifying the confused deputy vulnerability. His most significant contribution was KeyKOS, a capability secure operating system that ran on commodity hardware, as well as key contributions to the creation of capability secure languages and protocols. Norm also recognized the importance of extending good security concepts out into the user’s experience, requesting that the Prize in his name encourage work in that area.
Ka-Ping Yee and Marc Stiegler, whose work serves as great examples of the types of secure systems we would like to honor and incentivize.
Background Reading
Norm Hardy’s Place in History, Mark S. Miller
