{"title":"Determining cybersecurity culture maturity and deriving verifiable improvement measures","authors":"Peter Dornheim, Ruediger Zarnekow","doi":"10.1108/ics-07-2023-0116","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"Purpose The human factor is the most important defense asset against cyberattacks. To ensure that the human factor stays strong, a cybersecurity culture must be established and cultivated in a company to guide the attitudes and behaviors of employees. Many cybersecurity culture frameworks exist; however, their practical application is difficult. This paper aims to demonstrate how an established framework can be applied to determine and improve the cybersecurity culture of a company. Design/methodology/approach Two surveys were conducted within eight months in the internal IT department of a global software company to analyze the cybersecurity culture and the applied improvement measures. Both surveys comprised the same 23 questions to measure cybersecurity culture according to six dimensions: cybersecurity accountability, cybersecurity commitment, cybersecurity necessity and importance, cybersecurity policy effectiveness, information usage perception and management buy-in. Findings Results demonstrate that cybersecurity culture maturity can be determined and improved if accurate measures are derived from the results of the survey. The first survey showed potential for improving the dimensions of cybersecurity accountability, cybersecurity commitment and cybersecurity policy effectiveness, while the second survey proved that these dimensions have been improved. Originality/value This paper proves that practical application of cybersecurity culture frameworks is possible if they are appropriately tailored to a given organization. In this regard, scientific research and practical application combine to offer real value to researchers and cybersecurity executives.","PeriodicalId":45298,"journal":{"name":"Information and Computer Security","volume":"15 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":1.6000,"publicationDate":"2023-10-05","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"1","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Information and Computer Security","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1108/ics-07-2023-0116","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"COMPUTER SCIENCE, INFORMATION SYSTEMS","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 1
Abstract
Purpose The human factor is the most important defense asset against cyberattacks. To ensure that the human factor stays strong, a cybersecurity culture must be established and cultivated in a company to guide the attitudes and behaviors of employees. Many cybersecurity culture frameworks exist; however, their practical application is difficult. This paper aims to demonstrate how an established framework can be applied to determine and improve the cybersecurity culture of a company. Design/methodology/approach Two surveys were conducted within eight months in the internal IT department of a global software company to analyze the cybersecurity culture and the applied improvement measures. Both surveys comprised the same 23 questions to measure cybersecurity culture according to six dimensions: cybersecurity accountability, cybersecurity commitment, cybersecurity necessity and importance, cybersecurity policy effectiveness, information usage perception and management buy-in. Findings Results demonstrate that cybersecurity culture maturity can be determined and improved if accurate measures are derived from the results of the survey. The first survey showed potential for improving the dimensions of cybersecurity accountability, cybersecurity commitment and cybersecurity policy effectiveness, while the second survey proved that these dimensions have been improved. Originality/value This paper proves that practical application of cybersecurity culture frameworks is possible if they are appropriately tailored to a given organization. In this regard, scientific research and practical application combine to offer real value to researchers and cybersecurity executives.
期刊介绍：
Information and Computer Security (ICS) contributes to the advance of knowledge directly related to the theory and practice of the management and security of information and information systems. It publishes research and case study papers relating to new technologies, methodological developments, empirical studies and practical applications. The journal welcomes papers addressing research and case studies in relation to many aspects of information and computer security. Topics of interest include, but are not limited to, the following: Information security management, standards and policies Security governance and compliance Risk assessment and modelling Security awareness, education and culture User perceptions and understanding of security Misuse and abuse of computer systems User-facing security technologies Internet security and privacy The journal is particularly interested in receiving submissions that consider the business and organisational aspects of security, and welcomes papers from both human and technical perspective on the topic. However, please note we do not look to solicit papers relating to the underlying mechanisms and functions of security methods such as cryptography (although relevant applications of the technology may be considered).
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