Attending the 2025 European Symposium on Usable Security (EuroUSEC) in Manchester on September 10th and 11th was an incredible and memorable experience. As one of the key conferences in the Usable Security and Privacy community, EuroUSEC 2025 brought together researchers, practitioners, and students worldwide to discuss the latest developments in how people interact with and understand security and privacy technologies. Being part of that community in person was both inspiring and rewarding.
The atmosphere was vibrant and welcoming. The keynote talks were an excellent highlight of the conference. Dr Marc J. Dupuis gave an insightful talk connecting emotion, faith, and human behaviour to more empathetic cybersecurity design. The second keynote, by Dr Jason R. C. Nurse, explored the human and psychological impacts of breaches beyond financial loss. Both keynotes reminded us that adequate security must start with understanding people’s emotions, beliefs, and lived experiences.
The paper sessions showcased an impressive range of high-quality research. Topics spanned from privacy and transparency to security behaviour and organisational readiness. I particularly enjoyed papers examining users’ relationships with AI companions, how trust and attachment shape privacy risks, and work on older adults’ experiences with passkeys and authentication, highlighting critical inclusivity challenges. Other contributions analysed how trust can override caution in personal phishing contexts and how cybersecurity practices within organisations can be more employee-centric. Throughout all sessions, the presentations were well-structured, engaging, and full of creative, human-focused insights.
Beyond the technical content, what made EuroUSEC 2025 truly special was the sense of community. Conversations flowed easily throughout the event, during coffee breaks, poster sessions, and the social dinner. I had the chance to meet and exchange ideas with researchers from all over the world. Everyone was approachable and very interested in discussing their work, making it easy to connect and learn from one another.
I would also like to thank RISCS, the sponsors who covered my participation fee for EuroUSEC 2025. Their support allowed me to attend this event. I’m very grateful for their efforts to support researchers and foster collaboration in cybersecurity and privacy.
Finally, the organising committee did an outstanding job of creating a smooth, engaging, well-run conference.
Overall, EuroUSEC 2025 was a fantastic experience. I left Manchester feeling inspired, motivated, and more connected than ever to the usable security and privacy community. I’m already looking forward to attending EuroUSEC again in the future.
Christina Katsini
University of Warwick
PhD student
Author bio: Christina is a third-year PhD student at the University of Warwick, with research focusing on user authentication in extended reality (XR). She’s exploring how to make authentication in XR both secure and user-friendly by developing ways to choose the most suitable methods based on threat analysis and user perception. She is particularly interested in how people interact with emerging technologies and how we can design security systems that feel natural and trustworthy to users.