Influences of moral character on insider deviant behavior in information security

Insider threats has been a major challenge for organizations. Leaking sensitive information by insiders has become rampant in recent times and presents an important issue for both private and public organizations. Though prior research has indicated that the human is the weakest link in information...

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Main Author: Anti, Emmanuel
Other Authors: Informaatioteknologian tiedekunta, Faculty of Information Technology, Informaatioteknologia, Information Technology, Jyväskylän yliopisto, University of Jyväskylä
Format: Master's thesis
Language:eng
Published: 2019
Subjects:
Online Access: https://jyx.jyu.fi/handle/123456789/65247
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author Anti, Emmanuel
author2 Informaatioteknologian tiedekunta Faculty of Information Technology Informaatioteknologia Information Technology Jyväskylän yliopisto University of Jyväskylä
author_facet Anti, Emmanuel Informaatioteknologian tiedekunta Faculty of Information Technology Informaatioteknologia Information Technology Jyväskylän yliopisto University of Jyväskylä Anti, Emmanuel Informaatioteknologian tiedekunta Faculty of Information Technology Informaatioteknologia Information Technology Jyväskylän yliopisto University of Jyväskylä
author_sort Anti, Emmanuel
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description Insider threats has been a major challenge for organizations. Leaking sensitive information by insiders has become rampant in recent times and presents an important issue for both private and public organizations. Though prior research has indicated that the human is the weakest link in information security and has found that insiders are threats to leaking information, there is paucity of study on the characteristics of the insider that influences information leak behavior. This master’s thesis contributes to filling this important gap. Drawing on moral development and deterrence theories, this study examines the influence of an insider’s moral character on the insider’s ethical awareness on deterrence and views on leaking sensitive information. Results show that out of the four dimensions of moral character, only justice and utilitarianism dimensions directly influence an insider’s view on leaking sensitive information. However, only the justice dimension influences the insider’s ethical awareness on deterrence. Taken together, the results show that an individual with high ethical views on justice is more likely to heed to deterrence polices; however, such individual is highly likely to leak information when heeding to deterrence policies contradicts his/her ethical views on justice. Also, contrary to the notion that personal interest (i.e., egoism) is a fundamental determinant of an insider’s view on leaking information, this study shows that an individual’s view of public interest is a stronger determinant of his/her view on leaking infor-mation. The several implications for research and practice deduced from the results are discussed. This research contributes generally to research on infor-mation systems security and specifically to the importance of moral development theory and deterrence theory in explaining insider information leak behavior.
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spellingShingle Anti, Emmanuel Influences of moral character on insider deviant behavior in information security Insider Deviant Behavior Leaks Sensitive Information Moral development Deterrence Moral Character Tietojärjestelmätiede Information Systems Science 601
title Influences of moral character on insider deviant behavior in information security
title_full Influences of moral character on insider deviant behavior in information security
title_fullStr Influences of moral character on insider deviant behavior in information security Influences of moral character on insider deviant behavior in information security
title_full_unstemmed Influences of moral character on insider deviant behavior in information security Influences of moral character on insider deviant behavior in information security
title_short Influences of moral character on insider deviant behavior in information security
title_sort influences of moral character on insider deviant behavior in information security
title_txtP Influences of moral character on insider deviant behavior in information security
topic Insider Deviant Behavior Leaks Sensitive Information Moral development Deterrence Moral Character Tietojärjestelmätiede Information Systems Science 601
topic_facet 601 Deterrence Deviant Behavior Information Systems Science Insider Leaks Moral Character Moral development Sensitive Information Tietojärjestelmätiede
url https://jyx.jyu.fi/handle/123456789/65247 http://www.urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:jyu-201908163851
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