Usable security management with host identity protocol

Host Identity Protocol (HIP) proposes a change to the Internet architecture by introducing cryptographically-secured names, called Host Identities (HIs), for hosts. Applications use HIs instead of IP addresses in transport layer connections, which allows applications to tolerate host-based mobility better. HIP provides IPsec-based, lower-layer security, but the problem is that this type of security is invisible for most applications and users. Our main contribution is the implementation and user evaluation of several security indicators which inform the user when HIP and IPsec are securing the connections of the user. We experimented with application and system level security indicators at the client-side, as well as with server-side indicators. In this paper, we present implementation experience on integrating the identity management Graphical User Interface (GUI) to HIP and results of usability tests with actual users.