Document Type

Dissertation

Degree

Doctor of Business Administration

Major/Program

<--Please Select Department-->

First Advisor's Name

Miguel Aguirre-Urreta

First Advisor's Committee Title

Committee Chair

Second Advisor's Name

Attila Hertelendy

Second Advisor's Committee Title

Committee Member

Third Advisor's Name

Chaitali Kapadia

Third Advisor's Committee Title

Committee Member

Fourth Advisor's Name

Jayati Sinha

Fourth Advisor's Committee Title

Committee Member

Keywords

cybersecurity, protection motivation theory, internet service provider, social media usage, intern trust, training and awareness, home users domain

Date of Defense

6-26-2023

Abstract

Home users have become targets of interest for cybercriminals due to their lower cybersecurity sophistication, compared to corporate and government operations. In order to identify factors that contribute to cybercrime perception and preparation in home users, the current study uses an extended version of the Protection Motivation Theory (PMT) as the theoretical lens for the study. Specifically, the current study includes the role of internet trust, trust in the ISP, and usage of social media as potential drivers of PMT drivers of intention to protect oneself from cybercrime, to study the extent to which device security and digital literacy affect the abovementioned PMT drivers, and to study the extent to which having been exposed to cybersecurity training and awareness efforts has an impact on the PMT drivers. Data collection for this research was conducted via an online survey from 582 respondents.

The results from the antecedents to the core constructs of the PMT concluded: in the case of internet trust that home users who believe that the internet is a safe space perceive cybercrime as less of a threat and minimize the effort spent in protecting themselves from it. In the case of device security the findings indicate that the more device security measures or features are implemented the more aware the home user becomes of the severity of cyber threats and which indicates that more device security measures or features are implemented the more home users to belief in their own personal skills and abilities to be able to perform certain tasks; indirectly, therefore, device security plays a role in the formation of intention to take protective actions. In the case of digital literacy, the findings concluded that further investigation is required. In the case of social media usage this finding indicates that the more home users are investing time on social media platforms, the greater extent, or the frequency of social media usage the more they believe the internet is a safe space to transact and engage with others. In the case of ISP compliance, the findings indicate that the more home users become aware and perceived ISPs as providing an extra layer of security for their protection, the more likely they are to trust the internet as a safe space to engage and transact. Finally, in the case of training and awareness the findings concluded that the more trained home users are about cybersecurity, the more they will be aware about device security reaffirming that an untrained and unaware home user is more at high risk to become vulnerable to cybercrime. Also, home user device security behavior is influenced by knowledge about security threats and the intentions to be security compliant. This study was also able to validate the importance of each core construct of the PMT on their impact to take protective measures against cybercrime.

Identifier

FIDC011119

ORCID

https://orcid.org/0009-0004-5216-5218

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