Google researchers have come up with more efficient Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) warnings that can push users not to overlook such alerts.
Mainly aimed at defending users against spying and data theft, SSL warnings are shown by Web browsers when accessing an unsafe website, with the majority of users paying no attention to such alerts.
According to the tech major, prior to launch of Chrome 37, users paid heed to about 37% of SSL warnings, while the roll out boosted the adherence rates by about 30%.
Researchers noted: "Unfortunately, comprehension rates remain lower than desired for all of the SSL warning texts that we tested. This is disappointing, as we view comprehension as more important than adherence."
"We attempted to follow best practices for both adherence and comprehension, and we were surprised that this strategy yielded success for adherence but not comprehension."
"We attribute the low comprehension rates to the difficulty of creating an SSL warning that is simultaneously brief, non-technical, simple, and specific."
As part of the design, researchers eliminated all technical terms from the primary text and added an ‘Advanced’ button for tech savvy users, while maintaining the warning as brief as possible to trim down comprehensiveness.
In a bid to improve adherence rates, researchers made the ‘back to safety’ button noticeable, and hid the link to go on in the ‘Advanced’ section, which further accelerated adherence rates from 31% to 58% in controlled field assessment, and from 37% to 62%in the field.
