Video: Researchers use sound to warn internet users of possible security threats

While some cybersecurity threats are easy to spot, others can be more challenging. Now, consider identifying those same threats with a visual impairment. It's the vulnerability of that population that inspired a team of Texas Tech researchers to find a better way. With funding from the National Science Foundation, the group has focused its efforts on translating visual security warnings into sounds that best represent the threat.

"It becomes very difficult, even for screen readers, to actually translate what is going on in terms of cybersecurity attacks," Akbar Namin, an associate professor of Computer Science, said. "They (visually impaired) need some sort of assistive technology to inform them of (a) potential attack."