Assess developing countries' cybersecurity capabilities through a social influence strategy

Elkhannoubi, Hasna; Belaïssaoui, Mustapha

doi:10.1109/setit.2016.7939834

Cited by 12 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 7 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Different from the education at a personal level, SEL concerns how the general education level of an internet user's immediate circle, such as family, friends and colleagues, impacts the user's cybersecurity behaviours. Existing literature has found social influence to be a critical factor that motivates or demotivates cyber security behaviours (Das, 2016;Elkhannoubi & Belaissaoui, 2016;Heirman et al, 2016;Kam et al, 2020;Rader et al, 2012;Watson et al, 2020). Kam et al (2020), for example, examined the relationship between industry type and information security awareness (ISA).…”

Section: Factors Affecting Cybersecurity Behavioursmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…These studies suggest that social influences from workplace, family and friends can affect individuals' attitudes and behaviours towards cybersecurity. At a national level, Elkhannoubi & Belaissaoui (2016) argued that social influence plays a key role in safe internet behaviours, especially in developing countries. They proposed a framework to assess and promote ISA in developing countries, which consists four variables: (public) awareness, social media, government and business influence.…”

Section: Factors Affecting Cybersecurity Behavioursmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The current study further confirms normative/social influences (e.g., Heirman et al, 2016;Ifinedo, 2012) but they are approached by comparing differing work exposure conditions for participants with similar backgrounds. Not many ISA studies have focused on the effect of external influence (e.g., Das, 2016;Elkhannoubi & Belaissaoui, 2016;Kam et al, 2020) and evidence is typically flimsy due to methodological limitations (e.g., lack of effective tools to measure social influence, small samples). Further, there have not been any attempts to compare university students with working graduates.…”

Section: Theoretical Implicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, like many other emerging models, KAB is subject to further improvements, as Parsons et al (2014) rightly acknowledged. One factor that has been suggested is social influence, which past studies found to be a salient predictor of cybersecurity behaviours (Das, 2016;Elkhannoubi & Belaissaoui, 2016;Heirman et al, 2016;Rader et al, 2012;Watson et al, 2020). However, impacts from the external environment were rarely the focus of investigation (Kam et al, 2020) and barely any researchers examined the effect of the average education level of a society on an individual's ISA.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

The influence of social education level on cybersecurity awareness and behaviour: a comparative study of university students and working graduates

et al. 2022

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

A multitude of studies have suggested potential factors that influence internet security awareness (ISA). Some, for example, used GDP and nationality to explain different ISA levels in other countries but yielded inconsistent results. This study proposed an extended knowledge-attitude-behaviour (KAB) model, which postulates an influence of the education level of society at large is a moderator to the relationship between knowledge and attitude. Using exposure to a full-time working environment as a proxy for the influence, it was hypothesized that significant differences would be found in the attitude and behaviour dimensions across groups with different conditions of exposure and that exposure to full-time work plays a moderating role in KAB. To test the hypotheses, a large-scale survey adopting the Human Aspects of Information Security Questionnaire (HAIS-Q) was conducted with three groups of participants, namely 852 Year 1-3 students, 325 final-year students (age = 18-25) and 475 full-time employees (age = 18-50) in two cities of China. MANOVA and subsequent PROCESS regression analyses found a significant negative moderating effect of work exposure, which confirmed the proposed model. However, the effect was more pervasive than expected and moderation was found in the interaction between work exposure and all three ISA dimensions. The social influence does not only reshape the cybersecurity attitude of the highly educated, but also knowledge and behaviour. Findings contribute theoretically, methodologically and practically, offering novel perspectives on ISA research and prompting new strategies to respond to human factors.

show abstract

Section: Factors Affecting Cybersecurity Behavioursmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Factors Affecting Cybersecurity Behavioursmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Theoretical Implicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

The influence of social education level on cybersecurity awareness and behaviour: a comparative study of university students and working graduates

et al. 2022

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Several countries in Africa have collaborated with the SEI to further develop their cybersecurity capacity. These international partnerships are important because, as noted by Elkhannoubi and Belaissaoui (2016), the developing world often lacks the controls and procedures to secure networks and systems, "making it both a target of attack, as well as a medium to attack other parts of the world" (p. 19). These vulnerabilities to cyber threats in developing countries are a direct result of the immense growth in ITC within these countries over the past decade (Jansen van Vuuren et al, 2014).…”

Section: The Cybersecurity Skills Gapmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cybersecurity capacity building of human capital: Nations supporting nations

Ramim

Hueca

2021

OJAKM

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Capacity building of human capital can be described as the experience, knowledge, skill sets, and intangible assets that add economic value to individuals and the organizations they work for. With the ever-growing gap in cybersecurity skill sets, it is essential to have a shared understanding of the necessary current skills and what those skills represent in the form of human capital to not only individuals, but also the organizations they work for. As nations around the world are struggling with the increased dependencies on Information Systems (IS) and the massive cybersecurity incidents resulting from adversaries, it is evident that cybersecurity human capital is the key in overcoming such challenges. With that said, while major players fighting cyber adversaries such as the United States (U.S.) and other western nations are struggling with their own significant cybersecurity human capital shortage, less developed nations are even further challenged. For example, African nations continue to acquire and implement ISs, the pace in which these technologies are adopted outnumbers the rate at which the skills to protect these technologies are captured. In this study we introduce the concept of cybersecurity human capital at the national level in the African region, as well as specific steps necessary to develop and embed current cybersecurity skills in cybersecurity human capital. We discuss the challenges faced by Sub-Saharan African nations in the journey to develop their cybersecurity human capital at the national level. An overview of the programs developed by the U.S. Department of State’s Office of the Coordinator for Cyber Issues is provided across three case studies.

show abstract