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Article
Publication date: 2 June 2020

Rika Butler

There is a need for behavioural research within the smartphone context to better understand users’ behaviour, as it is one of the reasons for the proliferation of mobile threats

Abstract

Purpose

There is a need for behavioural research within the smartphone context to better understand users’ behaviour, as it is one of the reasons for the proliferation of mobile threats. This study aims to identify the human factors that affect smartphone users’ threat avoidance behaviour.

Design/methodology/approach

A structured literature review (SLR) was applied to answer the research question. A total of 27 sources were analysed, from which 16 codes emerged. After synthesis, six themes transpired.

Findings

Six factors were identified as drivers and/or challenges of smartphone users’ threat avoidance behaviour, namely, knowledge and awareness, misconceptions and trust, cost and benefit considerations, carelessness, perceived measure effectiveness and the user’s perceived skills and efficacy.

Research limitations/implications

The results can encourage and provide a starting point for further research on human behaviour to improve smartphone user behaviour.

Practical implications

The mobile industry should focus on eradicating common misconceptions and undue trust in mobile security that is prevalent among smartphone users and make cost effective and usable interventions available. Training and awareness programs should be updated to include the factors that were identified in this study to affect smartphone users’ threat avoidance behaviour. In addition to improving users’ declarative knowledge concerning available smartphone measures and tools, procedural knowledge should also be improved to ensure proper use of available protective measures. Users should realise the importance of staying updated with evolving smartphone technology and associated threats.

Originality/value

This study acknowledges and supports the notion that addressing human behaviour is crucial in the fight against mobile threats. It addresses the need for behavioural research to analyse the factors that drive smartphone user behaviour. Furthermore, it uses and documents the use of a SLR, a research technique often unfamiliar among information security researchers.

Details

Information & Computer Security, vol. 28 no. 4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2056-4961

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 11 November 2019

Anthony Duke Giwah, Ling Wang, Yair Levy and Inkyoung Hur

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the information security behavior of mobile device users in the context of data breach. Much of the previous research done in user…

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Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the information security behavior of mobile device users in the context of data breach. Much of the previous research done in user information security behavior have been in broad contexts, therefore creating needs of research that focuses on specific emerging technologies and trends such as mobile technology.

Design/methodology/approach

This study was an empirical study that gathered survey data from 390 mobile users. Delphi study and pilot study were conducted prior to the main survey study. Partial Least Square Structural Equation Modeling was used to analyze the survey data after conducting pre-analysis data screening.

Findings

This study shows that information security training programs must be designed by practitioners to target the mobile self-efficacy (MSE) of device users. It also reveals that practitioners must design mobile device management systems along with processes and procedures that guides users to take practical steps at protecting their devices. This study shows the high impact of MSE on users’ protection motivation (PM) to protect their mobile devices. Additionally, this study reveals that the PM of users influences their usage of mobile device security.

Originality/value

This study makes theoretical contributions to the existing information security literature. It confirms PM theory’s power to predict user behavior within the context of mobile device security usage. Additionally, this study investigates mobile users’ actual security usage. Thus, it goes beyond users’ intention.

Details

Journal of Intellectual Capital, vol. 21 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 1469-1930

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 29 November 2022

Rajat Kumar Behera, Pradip Kumar Bala and Nripendra P. Rana

The new ways to complete financial transactions have been developed by setting up mobile payment (m-payment) platforms and such platforms to access banking in the financial…

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Abstract

Purpose

The new ways to complete financial transactions have been developed by setting up mobile payment (m-payment) platforms and such platforms to access banking in the financial mainstream can transact as never before. But, does m-payment have veiled consequences? To seek an answer, the research was undertaken to explore the dark sides of m-payment for consumers by extending the theory of innovation resistance (IR) and by measuring non-adoption intention (NAI).

Design/methodology/approach

Three hundred individuals using popular online m-payment apps such as Paytm, PhonePe, Amazon Pay and Google Pay were surveyed for the primary data. IBM AMOS based structural equation modelling (SEM) was used to analyse the data.

Findings

Each m-payment transaction leaves a digital record, making some vulnerable consumers concerned about privacy threats. Lack of global standards prevents consumers from participating in the m-payment system properly until common interfaces are established based on up-to-date standards. Self-compassion (SC) characteristics such as anxiety, efficacy, fatigue, wait-and-see tendencies and the excessive choice of technology effect contribute to the non-adoption of m-payment.

Originality/value

This study proposes a threat model and empirically explores the dark sides of m-payment. In addition, it also unveils the moderator's role of SC in building the structural relationship between IR and NAI.

Details

Information Technology & People, vol. 36 no. 7
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0959-3845

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 28 July 2023

Bidyut Hazarika, Utkarsh Shrivastava, Vivek Kumar Singh and Alan Rea

The COVID-19 pandemic has had far-reaching effects on society and will continue to be a subject of study for researchers in the years to come. Businesses have implemented…

Abstract

Purpose

The COVID-19 pandemic has had far-reaching effects on society and will continue to be a subject of study for researchers in the years to come. Businesses have implemented technologies that reduce reliance on physical currencies, such as e-commerce sites and contactless payments. This study aims to examine the users’ attitudes and behaviors toward mobile payments. The focus is on identifying the most effective techniques and approaches that businesses can use to encourage user adoption of mobile payments.

Design/methodology/approach

This study uses survey data from 396 active mobile payment users across the mid-west region of the USA to test the proposed hypothesis. The snowball sampling approach is used to sample the participants for the data collection. This study uses partial least squares structural equation modeling to test the ten hypotheses proposed in this study.

Findings

This study finds that organizational commitment and privacy customization can significantly overcome users’ protective attitudes toward mobile payments during the pandemic. In addition, providing users with privacy customization options can significantly encourage self-disclosure, which is crucial for transaction authentication and fraud detection.

Originality/value

Envisioned in the backdrop of the COVID pandemic, this is one of the earliest studies investigating the role of privacy customization, self-disclosure and organizational commitment on mobile payment adoption.

Details

Global Knowledge, Memory and Communication, vol. ahead-of-print no. ahead-of-print
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2514-9342

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 10 July 2017

Hao Chen and Wenli Li

Recently, the spread of malicious IT has been causing serious privacy threats to mobile device users, which hampers the efficient use of mobile devices for individual and…

1810

Abstract

Purpose

Recently, the spread of malicious IT has been causing serious privacy threats to mobile device users, which hampers the efficient use of mobile devices for individual and business. To understand the privacy security assurance behavior of mobile device users, this study aims to develop a theoretical model based on technology threat avoidance theory (TTAT), to capture motivation factors in predicting mobile device user’s voluntary adoption of security defensive software.

Design/methodology/approach

A survey is conducted to validate the proposed research model. A total of 284 valid survey data are collected and partial least square (PLS)-based structural equation modeling is used to test the model.

Findings

Results highlight that both privacy concern and coping appraisal have a significant impact on the intention to adopt the security defensive software. Meanwhile, privacy security awareness is a crucial determinant to stimulate mobile device user’s threat and coping appraisal processes in the voluntary context. The results indicate that emotional-based coping appraisal of anticipated regret is also imperative to arouse personal intention to adopt the security tool.

Practical implications

This result should be of interest to practitioners. Information security awareness training and education programs should be developed in a variety of forms to intensify personal security knowledge and skills. Besides, emotion-based warnings can be designed to arouse users’ protection behavior.

Originality/value

This paper embeds TTAT theory within the mobile security context. The authors extent TTAT by taking anticipated regret into consideration to capture emotional-based coping appraisal, and information security awareness is employed as the antecedent factor. The extent offers a useful starting point for the further empirical study of emotion elements in the information security context.

Details

Information & Computer Security, vol. 25 no. 3
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2056-4961

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 29 March 2021

Ramaraj Palanisamy and Yang Wu

This study/ paper aims to empirically examine the user attitude on perceived security of enterprise systems (ES) mobility. Organizations are adopting mobile technologies for…

491

Abstract

Purpose

This study/ paper aims to empirically examine the user attitude on perceived security of enterprise systems (ES) mobility. Organizations are adopting mobile technologies for various business applications including ES to increase the flexibility and to gain sustainable competitive advantage. At the same time, end-users are exposed to security issues when using mobile technologies. The ES have seen breaches and malicious intrusions thereby more sophisticated recreational and commercial cybercrimes have been witnessed. ES have seen data breaches and malicious intrusions leading to more sophisticated cybercrimes. Considering the significance of security in ES mobility, the research questions in this study are: What are the security issues of ES mobility? What are the influences of users’ attitude towards those security issues? What is the impact of users’ attitude towards security issues on perceived security of ES mobility?

Design/methodology/approach

These questions are addressed by empirically testing a security model of mobile ES by collecting data from users of ES mobile systems. Hypotheses were evolved and tested by data collected through a survey questionnaire. The questionnaire survey was administered to 331 users from Chinese small and medium-sized enterprises (SME). The data was statistically analysed by tools such as correlation, factor analysis, regression and the study built a structural equation model (SEM) to examine the interactions between the variables.

Findings

The study results have identified the following security issues: users’ attitude towards mobile device security issues; users’ attitude towards wireless network security issues; users’ attitude towards cloud computing security issues; users’ attitude towards application-level security issues; users’ attitude towards data (access) level security issues; and users’ attitude towards enterprise-level security issues.

Research limitations/implications

The study results are based on a sample of users from Chinese SMEs. The findings may lack generalizability. Therefore, researchers are encouraged to examine the model in a different context. The issues requiring further investigation are the role of gender and type of device on perceived security of ES mobile systems.

Practical implications

The results show that the key security issues are related to a mobile device, wireless network, cloud computing, applications, data and enterprise. By understanding these issues and the best practices, organizations can maintain a high level of security of their mobile ES.

Social implications

Apart from understanding the best practices and the key issues, the authors suggest management and end-users to work collaboratively to achieve a high level of security of the mobile ES.

Originality/value

This is an empirical study conducted from the users’ perspective for validating the set of research hypotheses related to key security issues on the perceived security of mobile ES.

Details

Information & Computer Security, vol. 29 no. 1
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2056-4961

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 2 January 2020

Pintu Shah and Anuja Agarwal

For a good number of Indians, their smartphone is their first digital computing device. They have less experience in dealing with the Internet-enabled device and hence less…

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Abstract

Purpose

For a good number of Indians, their smartphone is their first digital computing device. They have less experience in dealing with the Internet-enabled device and hence less experience in handling security threats like malware as compared to users of other countries who have gone through the learning curve of handling such security threats using other Internet-enabled devices such as laptop and desktop. Because of this, the inexperienced Indian smartphone user may be vulnerable to Internet-related security breaches, as compared to the citizens of developed economies. Hence, it is essential to understand the attitude, behaviour and security practices of smartphone users in India. Limited research is available about the security behaviour of smartphone users in India as the majority of research in this domain is done outside India.

Design/methodology/approach

In this empirical study, the researchers identified 28 cybersecurity behaviours and practices through a survey of relevant literature. An online survey of identified cybersecurity behaviours and practices was administered to 300 smartphone users. Frequency analysis of the respondent data was done to understand the adoption of recommended cybersecurity behaviours and practices. Pearson’s chi-square with 5% level of significance has been used to test the hypotheses. Post hoc analysis with Bonferroni correction was conducted for statistically significant associations.

Findings

Overall, the respondents did not exhibit good cybersecurity behaviour. Respondents have adopted some of the most popular security features of the smartphone such as the use of screen lock. However, respondents have not adopted or are not aware of the technical security controls such as encryption and remote wipe. Statistically significant differences were found between the cybersecurity behaviour and practices and independent variables such as gender, age, mobile operating system (OS) and mother tongue. Respondents reported high level of motivation to protect their device and data, whereas they reported moderate level of threat awareness and the ability to protect to their device and data. Results of the comparative analysis with a similar study in China and the USA are also reported in this study.

Research limitations/implications

The main limitations of this study are as follows: the respondents' perceptions about their cybersecurity behaviours and practices were measured as opposed to their actual behaviours and practices and the generalizability of the study is limited because the sample size is small as compared to the total number of smartphone users in India.

Practical implications

The findings of this study may be useful for the design of effective cybersecurity prevention and intervention programs for general smartphone users of India.

Originality/value

This study provides an insight about cybersecurity behaviour of smartphone users in India. To the knowledge of the researchers, this is the first study to collect such quantitative data of smartphone users in India for a better understanding of the cybersecurity behaviours and practices. This study identified 28 cybersecurity behaviours and practices, which smartphone users should follow to improve cybersecurity.

Details

Information & Computer Security, vol. 28 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 2056-4961

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 25 November 2013

Wu He

As mobile malware and virus are rapidly increasing in frequency and sophistication, mobile social media has recently become a very popular attack vector. The purpose of this paper…

4186

Abstract

Purpose

As mobile malware and virus are rapidly increasing in frequency and sophistication, mobile social media has recently become a very popular attack vector. The purpose of this paper is to survey the state-of-the-art of security aspect of mobile social media, identify recent trends, and provide recommendations for researchers and practitioners in this fast moving field.

Design/methodology/approach

This paper reviews disparate discussions in literature on security aspect of mobile social media though blog mining and an extensive literature search. Based on the detailed review, the author summarizes some key insights to help enterprises understand security risks associated with mobile social media.

Findings

Risks related to mobile social media are identified based on the results of the review. Best practices and useful tips are offered to help enterprises mitigate risks of mobile social media. This paper also provides insights and guidance for enterprises to mitigate the security risks of mobile social media.

Originality/value

The paper consolidates the fragmented discussion in literature and provides an in-depth review to help researchers understand the latest development of security risks associated with mobile social media.

Details

Information Management & Computer Security, vol. 21 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0968-5227

Keywords

Article
Publication date: 15 November 2011

Devanjan Bhattacharya, Jayanta Kumar Ghosh, Piero Boccardo and N.K. Samadhiya

Communication of an impending hazard to people in near real time is critical. The purpose of this paper is to develop an internet‐SMS based geo‐hazard warning communication system.

Abstract

Purpose

Communication of an impending hazard to people in near real time is critical. The purpose of this paper is to develop an internet‐SMS based geo‐hazard warning communication system.

Design/methodology/approach

A warning system based on an internet‐resident concept and the available cellular mobile infrastructure is proposed in this study. The functionality of the system is modular in architecture.

Findings

The messages have been transmitted in a set of 20 SMSs six times, to locally‐owned mobile numbers, resulting in a total number of 120. It has been found that 58 messages got delivered within ten seconds, the rest within 40 more seconds. The threat messages reached the impending threat areas within acceptable time delay.

Originality/value

The paper describes the implementation of a novel and stand‐alone system for dynamic hazard warning. Cellular or mobile phone, a gadget used by common man, is expected to be the best proposition to effectively warn people individually and to propagate hazard messages to users in large regions ubiquitously. The concept allows pervasiveness and redundancy, important to withstanding hazards and bringing several original elements through the development of this “fast warning system”, as current warning strategies do not include such solutions.

Article
Publication date: 30 August 2011

Farsan Madjdi and Stefan Hüsig

This paper aims to study how three incumbent mobile network operators (MNOs) in Germany forecasted, framed and responded in terms of their strategy to the emergence of the

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Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to study how three incumbent mobile network operators (MNOs) in Germany forecasted, framed and responded in terms of their strategy to the emergence of the wireless local area network technology (W‐LAN) and how they interpreted this potential technological disruption in their own strategic context.

Design/methodology/approach

Drawing on empirical evidence from case studies conducted with these three major MNOs in Germany using the theoretical framework of disruptive technology, the results were then evaluated in a cross‐case analysis to study how these firms interpreted and reacted to the potential disruptiveness of W‐LAN. To meet this objective, an explorative, multiple and holistic case study design was utilized. Data was collected by the combination of information gained through semi‐structured interviews with key informants and background information that were publicly available. Interviews were conducted with company representatives using a semi‐structured interview guide. Information gathered from the interview, documentation and direct observations was transposed into a content analysis framework to enable easy analysis of the information gathered for each company.

Findings

As a result, significant differences for the respective MNOs between their perception of W‐LAN as a potential disruptive technology, their strategic development processes inside the organisation to understand the potential impact of W‐LAN on their respective business model, and to enforce an appropriate response strategy and structural implementation were identified. The results indicated that corporate representatives from each incumbent interpreted potentially disruptive technologies like W‐LAN from a different perspective and direction depending primarily on the strategic and structural context and their organisation's resources, processes, and values. The findings also identified that practitioners inside the organisation were aware about the disruptive technology concept but however did not react in accordance with the theory. Forecasting results and categorisation that prove wrong can still lead to taking the right action since it seems to provide better results than non‐forecasting and inactivity due to a lack of awareness of potential risks.

Research limitations/implications

Because of the chosen research approach, the research results may lack generalisation and need to be further studied in a larger number of cases with different technologies and industries.

Social implications

For managers and forecasters the study indicates that they should consider the impact of the heterogeneity in firms when formulating a response strategy based on their respective perception of the impact of a potential disruptive technology on their business. They should also be considerate about the consistency between their motivation to respond, the strategic development processes inside their organisation supporting the development of the response strategy and the subsequent structural implementation. Threat‐framing seemed to be a key factor in unlocking resources even in the face of sustaining technological change and can be activated by threatening forecasts.

Originality/value

The consideration of incumbent heterogeneity in different framing settings and the resulting innovation categorisation with respect to the organisational actions and outcomes was not studied before.

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