Understanding Individuals' Insecure Behavior: Factors Affecting the Decision to Refuse the Adoption, Use, or Expanded Use of Protective Information Technology

Abstract

In recent years, the need for protecting Internet-connected devices has increased as the number of Internet-connected devices has risen in households. Despite the increased need, some individuals still refuse to run protective information technologies (PIT) for security on their Internet-connected devices. This paper focuses on individuals' insecure behavior and discusses reasons for the refusal of adoption, use, and extended use of PIT. This study identifies 14 factors affecting an individual's decision to refuse. These factors can be linked to individual stages of security behavior, or different stages can share similar kinds of factors. The results of this study provide a deeper understanding of individuals' reasons to refuse PIT in different stages of security behavior and could be utilized in the product development and marketing of information security products in order to improve user engagement.