Document Type
Article
Publication Date
6-1-2018
Journal / Book Title
Computers in Human Behavior
Abstract
In this study, we examine how to motivate computer users to protect themselves from potential security and privacy threats. We draw on the Information Processing framework which posits that threat mitigation commonly occurs before full cognitive threat assessment and we conduct an empirical study to evaluate the effects of an exposure to general information security threats on the strength of passwords and the disclosure of personal information. Through an online experiment, we compare immediate computer user reactions to potential non-individually specific security and privacy threats in an extra-organizational context. We find evidence consistent with automatic security and privacy protective actions in response to these threats. Computer users exposed to news stories about corporate security breaches limit the disclosure of sensitive personal information and choose stronger passwords. The study complements the existing behavior modification research in information security by providing the theoretical and empirical foundation for the exploration of automatic security and privacy threat mitigation strategies across different contexts.
DOI
10.1016/j.chb.2018.01.028
MSU Digital Commons Citation
Mamonov, Stanislav and Benbunan-Fich, Raquel, "The Impact of Information Security Threat Awareness On Privacy-Protective Behaviors" (2018). Department of Information Management and Business Analytics Faculty Scholarship and Creative Works. 134.
https://digitalcommons.montclair.edu/infomgmt-busanalytics-facpubs/134
Published Citation
Mamonov, S., & Benbunan-Fich, R. (2018). The impact of information security threat awareness on privacy-protective behaviors. Computers in Human Behavior, 83, 32-44.