Security behaviors of smartphone users

Abstract

Purpose – This paper aims to report on the information security behaviors of smartphone users in an affluent economy of the Middle East. Design/methodology/approach – A model based on prior research, synthesized from a thorough literature review, is tested using survey data from 500 smartphone users representing three major mobile operating systems. Findings – The overall level of security behaviors is low. Regression coefficients indicate that the efficacy of security measures and the cost of adopting them are the main factors influencing smartphone security behaviors. At present, smartphone users are more worried about malware and data leakage than targeted information theft. Research limitations/implications – Threats and counter-measures co-evolve over time, and our findings, which describe the state of smartphone security at the current time, will need to be updated in the future. Practical implications – Measures to improve security practices of smartphone users are needed urgently. The findings indicate that such measures should be broadly effective and relatively costless for users to implement. Social implications – Personal smartphones are joining enterprise networks through the acceptance of Bring-Your-Own-Device computing. Users’ laxity about smartphone security thus puts organizations at risk. Originality/value – The paper highlights the key factors influencing smartphone security and compares the situation for the three leading operating systems in the smartphone market.

Risk Awareness, Self-Efficacy, and Social Support Predict Secure Smartphone Usage

“…The findings are consistent with previous work that reported positive associations between self-efficacy and secure behavior (Workman et al, 2008;Das and Khan, 2016;Jansen and Van Schaik, 2017). Also, risk awareness and perceived threat were associated with smartphone security behaviors (Ng et al, 2009) and, in addition, interactions and joint effects of these two factors (Fenz et al, 2014;Das and Khan, 2016).…”

“…Numerous prior studies have claimed the significance of complying with smartphone security behaviors to protect information security (Jones and Heinrichs, 2012;Wang et al, 2012;Das and Khan, 2016;van Schaik et al, 2018). Various available security behaviors have been strongly recommended by computer professionals.…”

“…Various available security behaviors have been strongly recommended by computer professionals. These measures have included installing antivirus applications (Jones and Heinrichs, 2012), taking precautions through phone settings such as passwords, remote services, data backup, and personal blacklists (Das and Khan, 2016;Zhang et al, 2017), as well as avoiding harmful or suspicious web links, Wi-Fi, and Bluetooth transmissions (Wang et al, 2012). A study identified 28 cybersecurity behaviors and practices, which smartphone users should follow to improve cybersecurity (Shah and Agarwal, 2020).…”

Why Do People Adopt, or Reject, Smartphone Password Managers?

“…This poor adoption applies to many security tools [6] [7], [8], not only password managers. Poor usability has often been blamed for non-adoption of security measures [9,1].…”

Implementation of Health Information System-A Case Study of Magrabi Hospitals, KSA

“…Performing these tasks has become a big challenge to Magrabi, as aligning the compulsory alterations with the company's objectives and strategies and reengineering the process flows seamlessly is a herculean task (Abraham and Junglas, 2011;Khan et al, 2017b). Though many market partners are adapting the information systems developed by the vendors, Magrabi took pertinent actions by developing own standard operating procedures for ensuring a continuous support for the new systems throughout (Melin and Axelsson, 2014;Das and Khan, 2016;. In spite of the odds that can accrue losses for developing organisation based HIS (Khan et al, 2017b) management put all efforts meticulously by framing apt strategies.…”