Christian Jordan Howell

Introduction: The effectiveness of human-centric cybersecurity largely depends on end-users’ adherence to security and privacy behaviors. Understanding and predicting variations in the adoption of these safeguards is crucial for both theoretical advancement and practical application. While existing frameworks are often adapted from health science literature, there is potential to enhance these models by incorporating criminological constructs relevant to online victimization. This study introduce rational choice theory of thoughtfully reflective decision-making (TRDM) into the information security domain. TRDM suggests that variations in cognitive decision-making capabilities influence behavioral outcomes, particularly in the context of security and privacy practices.Methods: The study employed a field experiment to test the applicability of TRDM in predicting end-users’ engagement in security and privacy behaviors. Participants were exposed to security-related warnings, with the hypothesis that thoughtfully reflective decision-makers would be more likely to adopt robust protective behaviors. Data was collected on participants’ responses to these security warnings, as well as their overall adherence to privacy and security practices.Results: The findings support the theoretical framework: individuals exhibiting thoughtfully reflective decision-making tendencies demonstrated a higher likelihood of engaging in privacy and security behaviors. Specifically, participants with higher TRDM scores were more likely to adopt protective behaviors when warned of the consequences of non-compliance. These results indicate that cognitive decision-making capabilities significantly influence the likelihood of engaging in cybersecurity practices.Discussion: The study challenges the prevailing one-size-fits-all approach to cybersecurity by highlighting the importance of individual differences in cognitive decision-making. Thoughtfully reflective decision-makers are better equipped to adopt preventive security measures, suggesting the need for more tailored interventions in cybersecurity education and risk assessment. This research contributes to the development of sophisticated risk assessment tools aimed at mitigating vulnerabilities and reducing users’ susceptibility to digital threats. Incorporating TRDM into information security models provides a more nuanced understanding of user behavior, offering insights into how cognitive processes influence cybersecurity adherence.

The current study employs a quasi-experimental design to test the efficacy of situational crime prevention (SCP) in understanding risk avoidance behavior in a darknet environment. Specifically, we deployed a web scraper to extract data from a popular darknet market. We then used these data to assess change in vendors and customers’ behavior following the deliverance of a warning message from the market administrator regarding the former market administrator’s intention to scam market participants. In the one-month following the message, vendors posted fewer advertisements and customers spent less and made fewer transactions on the marketplace. These findings expand the scope of SCP and provide evidence for Hutchings and Holt’s notion that darknet markets can be disrupted by means of gossip.

Focusing on two of the most common deceptive strategies employed by fraudsters, we assess which type of cue—politeness or urgency—is more likely to result in an email fraud attempt. We also examine whether these cues are mutually exclusive and consistent throughout the progression of a fraud attempt. To answer our research questions, we posted “for-sale” advertisements on classified-advertisement websites and interacted with fraudsters who responded to our advertisements. Findings reveal that fraud attempts are more likely to follow probe emails that include cues of urgency than cues of politeness. Moreover, although the majority of fraudsters’ probe emails include deceptive cues of either politeness or urgency, the majority of subsequent emails include deceptive cues of both politeness and urgency.

The distribution of malicious spam occurs in substantial numbers around the globe and can function as a precursor to serious forms of cybercrime. Yet to date, no known study has employed criminological theory to gain insight into the macro-correlates of malicious spam victimization. To address this gap in the literature, the current study utilizes data gathered from multiple sources to assess whether variables derived from routine activity theory are associated with malicious spam victimization at the country-level. Findings indicate that multiple measures of target suitability increase the amount of malicious spam a country receives. Specifically, corruption, political freedom, gross domestic product, and being an Asian nation are associated with an increase in malicious spam victimization. Capable guardianship, however, does not decrease the amount of malicious spam a country receives, and in some instances, is associated with an increase. Theoretical and policy implications are discussed.

Doping, or performance enhancing drug use, has long been a social and health problem among athletes. Despite the issues associated with doping and the illegality of using these drugs, little criminological research has examined why athletes engage in this deviant behavior. The present study seeks to do so by applying key theoretical concepts derived from, and testing the predictive efficiency of, situational action theory on professional athletes’ past, current, and future performance enhancing drug use. We employ self-report data from a random sample of 680 professional athletes from Rasht, Iran. Ordinary least squares regression is used to analyze these data. Findings suggest that crime propensity and criminogenic exposure increase athletes’ doping behavior. In addition, we find the interaction term between crime propensity and criminogenic exposure influences performance enhancing drug use among professional athletes, while increasing the model’s predictive power. Finally, in contrast to situational action theory, we find that known correlates of deviance (education, age, and gender) still influence athletes’ doping behavior even when key theoretical variables are included in the model.

This article tests Akers’s social learning theory with self-reported panel data on performance-enhancing drug (PED) use among a sample of professional athletes (n = 510). Using latent growth curve modeling we find that intraindividual differences exist in the developmental growth trajectories of PED use and the social learning process. Specifically, both PED use and the social learning process increase over time, while those who begin with high and low levels of PED consumption and social learning replicate these patterns throughout the sports life cycle. In addition, using structural equation modeling, we find modest to moderate contemporaneous and lagged, direct, indirect, and reciprocal effects between the social learning process and PED use in a manner consistent with the theory.