Lee Hadlington

The present article aimed to explore if susceptibility to cybercrime can be linked to information security awareness and personality factors. A total of 1,054 participants aged between 18 and 84 years took part in an online survey consisting of a recently developed segmentation analysis tool designed to explore an individual’s susceptibility to cybercrime. Alongside this, two other scales measuring information security awareness and the personality trait of impulsivity were also included. In total, 60% of the population surveyed presented as being in the higher risk categories for susceptibility to cybercrime. Furthermore, individuals in the higher risk categories for susceptibility to cybercrime also presented poorer information security awareness, as well as having higher levels of trait impulsivity. It was also noted that certain demographic factors also linked to susceptibility to cybercrime, including age and current employment status, with the unemployed and student populations being less well represented in lower risk categories. This work is seen as being critical while designing effective intervention strategies that are designed to target specific at-risk populations, as well as presenting a key tool that could be widely used by organizations to examine risk within their own specific populations.

The current study focused on how engaging in media multitasking (MMT) and the experience of everyday cognitive failures impact on the individual's engagement in risky cybersecurity behaviors (RCsB). In total, 144 participants (32 males, 112 females) completed an online survey. The age range for participants was 18 to 43 years (M = 20.63, SD = 4.04). Participants completed three scales which included an inventory of weekly MMT, a measure of everyday cognitive failures, and RCsB. There was a significant difference between heavy media multitaskers (HMM), average media multitaskers (AMM), and light media multitaskers (LMM) in terms of RCsB, with HMM demonstrating more frequent risky behaviors than LMM or AMM. The HMM group also reported more cognitive failures in everyday life than the LMM group. A regression analysis showed that everyday cognitive failures and MMT acted as significant predictors for RCsB. These results expand our current understanding of the relationship between human factors and cybersecurity behaviors, which are useful to inform the design of training and intervention packages to mitigate RCsB.

Researchers have noted potential links between Internet addiction, the use of work computers for nonwork purposes and an increased risk of threat to the organization from breaches in cybersecurity. However, much of this research appears conjectural in nature and lacks clear empirical evidence to support such claims. To fill this knowledge gap, a questionnaire-based study explored the link between cyberloafing, Internet addiction, and information security awareness (ISA). A total of 338 participants completed an online questionnaire, which comprised of the Online Cognition Scale, Cyberloafing Scale, and the Human Aspects of Information Security Questionnaire. Participants who reported higher Internet addiction and cyberloafing tendencies had lower ISA, and Internet addiction and cyberloafing predicted a significant 45 percent of the variance in ISA. Serious cyberloafing, such as the propensity to visit adult websites and online gambling, was shown to be the significant predictor for poorer ISA. Implications for organizations and recommendations to reduce or manage inappropriate Internet use are discussed.