Understanding the insider threat: a dyadic organization-employee fit/misfit perspective

Comprendre la menace interne: une perspective dyadique de l'(in)adéquation organisation-employé

Aymeric Mailler (), Alina Maria Dulipovici () and Ryad Titah ()
Additional contact information
Aymeric Mailler: HEC Montréal - HEC Montréal
Alina Maria Dulipovici: HEC Montréal - HEC Montréal
Ryad Titah: HEC Montréal - HEC Montréal

Post-Print from HAL

Abstract: The insider threat remains a central challenge in information security, as technological ubiquity blurs the boundaries between legitimate work, parallel practices, and deviance. In this literature, the theoretical gap lies in the inability of dominant linear approaches primarily based on deterrence to explain the diversity of behaviors enacted by legitimate employees. This article reconceptualizes these security behaviors as an emergent property of the dyadic organization- employee relationship, drawing on stakeholder theory. Its theoretical configurational logic intersects two orthogonal dimensions, value congruence and strategic complementarity, yielding four configurations: proactive protection, benign non-compliance, instrumental abuse, and malicious abuse. The framework distinguishes circumvention, opportunism, and hostility, then proposes three managerial responses: socio-technical redesign, targeted governance, or corrective intervention. By proposing a mid-range IS theory, this research advances the field and invites replacing undifferentiated sanctions with an adjustment of tools, rules and values

Date: 2026-05-20
Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://hal.science/hal-05789355v1
References: Add references at CitEc
Citations:

Published in AIM 2026 : 31e conférence de l'Association Information et Management, Haute École spécialisée de Suisse occidentale = HES-SO University of Applied Sciences and Arts Western Switzerland = Fachhochschule Westschweiz [Schweiz] [HES-SO], May 2026, Neuchâtel, Switzerland

Downloads: (external link)
https://hal.science/hal-05789355v1/document (application/pdf)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:hal:journl:hal-05789355

Access Statistics for this paper

More papers in Post-Print from HAL
Bibliographic data for series maintained by CCSD ().