TY - JOUR AB - Purpose The purpose of this paper is to investigate the lemming effect as a possible cause for the privacy paradox in information security.Design/methodology/approach Behavioural threshold analysis is used to test for the presence of the lemming effect in information security behaviour. Paradoxical behaviour may be caused by the influential nature of the lemming effect. The lemming effect is presented as a possible cause of the privacy paradox.Findings The behavioural threshold analysis indicates that the lemming effect is indeed present in information security behaviour and may lead to paradoxical information security behaviour.Practical implications The analysis of the lemming effect can be used to assist companies in understanding the way employees influence each other in their behaviour in terms of security. By identifying possible problem areas, this approach can also assist in directing their information security education endeavours towards the most relevant topics.Originality/value This research describes the first investigation of the lemming effect in information security by means of behavioural threshold analysis in practice. VL - 26 IS - 3 SN - 2056-4961 DO - 10.1108/ICS-03-2018-0034 UR - https://doi.org/10.1108/ICS-03-2018-0034 AU - Snyman Dirk P. AU - Kruger Hennie AU - Kearney Wayne D. PY - 2018 Y1 - 2018/01/01 TI - I shall, we shall, and all others will: paradoxical information security behaviour T2 - Information & Computer Security PB - Emerald Publishing Limited SP - 290 EP - 305 Y2 - 2024/04/23 ER -