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Computer Users Still Fooled By Fake Pop-Ups, Study Finds

by Terrence O'Brien on September 24, 2008 at 12:12 PM

Study Shows Computer Users are Moron
Despite the best efforts of tech savvy friends and Web sites (like this one), you, the Web-using public, simply continue your bad browsing habits. A new study shows, and we mean this in the nicest way possible, that you're just not listening.

Faculty from the psychology department at North Carolina State University conducted a study in which students were presented with a series of fake Windows dialog boxes while using a browser. Four boxes were crafted containing the following warning: "The instruction at '0x77f41d24 referenced memory at '0x595c2a4c.' The memory could not be 'read.' Click OK to terminate program." One was nearly indistinguishable from a standard Windows XP dialog box, but the other three contained clear warning signs that it may install malware.

Of the 42 students observed, 25 students clicked the OK button in two of the fake dialog boxes, missing the cursor turning to a hand over the OK button -- this indicates a link in a browser window, a sure sign for caution. 23 students clicked on the third fake, which showed the browser status bar at the bottom of the window. As a comparison, 26 clicked on the "real" warning box.

Only nine users closed the dialog boxes using the close button on the window border, and a few just simply minimized the window or dragged it out of the way. None of the users spent any significant amount of time reading or looking at the windows, indicating that they weren't even bothering to think about them.

The authors of the study suggest that more training might help users recognize the warning signs and become better browsers, through most users seem content to follow Download Squads 'Five Ways to Surf Like a Complete Moron.' Maybe, if we started breaking out the Karate moves and reciting Bob Dylan lyrics we'd have an easier time getting through to all those pop-up-clickers out there. [From: Ars Technica]

Tags: error, idiot, Internet, malware, morons, research, security, study, stupid, users, Web

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