Human Centered Security Lab
| Semester: | 2026 Summer |
| For: | Master |
| Format: | Lab |
| Credit Points: | 6 CP |
Experiencing human-centered security and privacy research firsthand
In this lab, students work together with PhD students and Prof. Fahl on research projects. Students are introduced to existing projects or can contribute to the conception of new ones, and then make their own scientific contributions to the projects. The focus is on scientific work on real research projects together with PhD students. The lab also offers participants the opportunity to get to know the everyday scientific life of a PhD in our group. If organizationally possible, students with good results may be given the opportunity to contribute to a scientific publication as co-authors.
The lab is limited to 8 participants. Lab places will be allocated to those who meet the requirements on a first-come-first-serve basis.
Structure
There will be a kick-off meeting and two further in-person meetings during the semester. Beyond that, collaboration takes place individually in teams with PhD students, including in-person or online meetings as well as phases of independent work.
Syllabus
Teaching of methods: Literature analysis, interviews, surveys, controlled experiments; qualitative and quantitative data analysis; case studies; scientific writing of results. Depending on the project, individual aspects are covered in different depth.
Recommended Prior Knowledge
Prior knowledge from the lecture Foundations of IT Security is expected. Knowledge acquired in the courses Introduction Usable Security and Privacy, Usable Security and Privacy Lab, and Introduction to Empirical Methods of Human-Centered Computing is also recommended.
Grading
- The lab is not graded (Studienleistung only).
- All students are expected to actively contribute to the work packages of their projects to pass the lab.
Literature
For an overview of the general field of usable security, we recommend:
- Usable Security: History, Themes, and Challenges (Synthesis Lectures on Information Security, Privacy, and Trust, Band 11), Simson Garfinkel and Heather Richter Lipford
- Security and Usability: Designing Secure Systems that People Can Use, Lorrie Faith Cranor and Simson Garfinkel
(also see modkat)