Towards Diagnosing and Mitigating Behavioral Cyber Risks

Carlo Pugnetti (), Albena Björck, Reto Schönauer and Carlos Casián
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Carlo Pugnetti: Institute of Financial Services Zug IFZ, Lucerne School of Business, Suurstoffi 1, 63434 Rotkreuz, Switzerland
Albena Björck: ZHAW School of Management and Law, Zurich University of Applied Sciences, St.-Georgen-Platz 2, 8400 Winterthur, Switzerland
Reto Schönauer: Schweizer Mobiliar Versicherungsgesellschaft AG, Bundesgasse 35, 3001 Berne, Switzerland
Carlos Casián: Kessler & Co AG, Forchstrasse 95, 8032 Zurich, Switzerland

Risks, 2024, vol. 12, issue 7, 1-19

Abstract: A company’s cyber defenses are based on a secure infrastructure and risk-aware behavior by employees. With rising cyber threats and normative training efforts showing limited impact, raising cyber risk awareness is emerging as a challenging effort. The review of the extant literature on awareness diagnosis shows interdisciplinary but mainly theoretical approaches to understanding attitudes and influencing risk behavior. We propose and test a novel methodology to combine and operationalize two tools, deep metaphor interviews and the IDEA risk communication model, to apply them for the first time in the context of behavioral cyber vulnerabilities. The results show a link between diagnosed attitudes and effective risk behavior in a real-life organizational setting, indicating the potential for an expanded diagnostic effort. We propose to develop a broader diagnostic and intervention set to improve cyber awareness and a toolkit to support the business practice of cyber risk management.

Keywords: risk; cybersecurity; cyber risk; risk behavior; risk communication; risk mitigation (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C G0 G1 G2 G3 K2 M2 M4 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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