{"title":"Informational inequality: the role of resources and attributes in information security awareness","authors":"Gregory Lyon","doi":"10.1108/ics-04-2023-0063","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"Purpose The rapid expansion of internet usage and device connectivity has underscored the importance of understanding the public’s cyber behavior and knowledge. Despite this, there is little research that examines the public’s objective knowledge of secure information security practices. The purpose of this study is to examine how objective cyber awareness is distributed throughout society. Design/methodology/approach This study draws on a large national survey of adults to examine the relationship between individual factors – such as demographic attributes and socioeconomic resources – and information security awareness. The study estimates several statistical models using weighted logistic regression to model objective information security awareness. Findings The results indicate that socioeconomic resources such as income and education have a significant effect on individuals’ information security awareness with richer and more highly educated individuals exhibiting greater awareness of important security practices and tools. Additionally, age and gender represent consistent and clear informational gaps in society as older individuals and females are significantly less knowledgeable about an array of information security practices than younger individuals and males, respectively. Social implications The findings have important implications for our understanding of information security behavior and user vulnerability in an increasingly digital and connected society. Despite the growing importance of cybersecurity for all individuals in nearly all domains of daily life, there is substantial inequality in awareness about secure cyber practices and the tools and techniques used to protect one’s self from attacks. While digital technology will continue to permeate many aspects of daily life – from financial transactions to health services to social interactions – the findings here indicate that some users may be far more exposed and vulnerable to attack than others. Originality/value This study contributes to our understanding of general user information security awareness using a large survey and statistical models to generalize about the public’s information security awareness across multiple domains and stimulates future research on public knowledge of information security. The findings indicate that some users may be far more exposed and vulnerable to attack than others. Despite the growing importance of cybersecurity for all individuals in nearly all domains of daily life, there is substantial inequality in awareness about secure cyber practices and the tools and techniques used to protect one’s self from attacks.","PeriodicalId":45298,"journal":{"name":"Information and Computer Security","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":1.6000,"publicationDate":"2023-11-09","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Information and Computer Security","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1108/ics-04-2023-0063","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: 0
Abstract
Purpose The rapid expansion of internet usage and device connectivity has underscored the importance of understanding the public’s cyber behavior and knowledge. Despite this, there is little research that examines the public’s objective knowledge of secure information security practices. The purpose of this study is to examine how objective cyber awareness is distributed throughout society. Design/methodology/approach This study draws on a large national survey of adults to examine the relationship between individual factors – such as demographic attributes and socioeconomic resources – and information security awareness. The study estimates several statistical models using weighted logistic regression to model objective information security awareness. Findings The results indicate that socioeconomic resources such as income and education have a significant effect on individuals’ information security awareness with richer and more highly educated individuals exhibiting greater awareness of important security practices and tools. Additionally, age and gender represent consistent and clear informational gaps in society as older individuals and females are significantly less knowledgeable about an array of information security practices than younger individuals and males, respectively. Social implications The findings have important implications for our understanding of information security behavior and user vulnerability in an increasingly digital and connected society. Despite the growing importance of cybersecurity for all individuals in nearly all domains of daily life, there is substantial inequality in awareness about secure cyber practices and the tools and techniques used to protect one’s self from attacks. While digital technology will continue to permeate many aspects of daily life – from financial transactions to health services to social interactions – the findings here indicate that some users may be far more exposed and vulnerable to attack than others. Originality/value This study contributes to our understanding of general user information security awareness using a large survey and statistical models to generalize about the public’s information security awareness across multiple domains and stimulates future research on public knowledge of information security. The findings indicate that some users may be far more exposed and vulnerable to attack than others. Despite the growing importance of cybersecurity for all individuals in nearly all domains of daily life, there is substantial inequality in awareness about secure cyber practices and the tools and techniques used to protect one’s self from attacks.
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).