Having tried to build a secure messaging platform, I can't agree more that, for the average user, security is so far below the bottom of the list of important things as to not exist. Unfortunately, for those of us who do care, the removes the network effects that make secure software usable.
It doesn't make how many calls or emails I encrypt if nobody I talk to can receive them. It is encouraging to hear people 1) understanding security isn't really a differentiator and 2) trying to solve the real problems securely.
I don't think the average user feels it is at the bottom of the list, rather the average user trusts webservices for various reasons without realizing how much insecurity and lack of privacy results from using common webservices. I think that is slowly changing though.
The problem I've experienced is that whenever I talk about software security with non technical people I get a lot of "I thought this dude was normal until he put on the tinfoil hat" looks and overall lack of interest.
The only time people become more aware of security is once they've suffered the consequences of a lack of security. To be fair, the only reason it concerns me is because I've been exposed to so many stories and somewhat have to deal with it in my field.
So it follows naturally that as incidents of security crimes and overreaching governments and corporations increase, then so will the awareness surrounding information security. It has to be actually happening to most for humans on a crowd scale to pay attention.
It doesn't make how many calls or emails I encrypt if nobody I talk to can receive them. It is encouraging to hear people 1) understanding security isn't really a differentiator and 2) trying to solve the real problems securely.