Exploring Contrasting Effects of Trust in Organizational Security Practices and Protective Structures on Employees’ Security-Related Precaution Taking

Malte Greulich (), Sebastian Lins (), Daniel Pienta (), Jason Bennett Thatcher () and Ali Sunyaev ()
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Malte Greulich: Institute of Applied Informatics and Formal Description Methods, Department of Economics and Management, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, 76049 Karlsruhe, Germany
Sebastian Lins: Institute of Applied Informatics and Formal Description Methods, Department of Economics and Management, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, 76049 Karlsruhe, Germany
Daniel Pienta: Department of Accounting and Information Management, University of Tennessee, Knoxville, Tennessee 37996
Jason Bennett Thatcher: Leeds School of Business, University of Colorado Boulder, Boulder, Colorado 80309; Alliance Manchester Business School, University of Manchester, Manchester M15 6PB, United Kingdom
Ali Sunyaev: Institute of Applied Informatics and Formal Description Methods, Department of Economics and Management, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, 76049 Karlsruhe, Germany; KASTEL Security Research Labs, 76049 Karlsruhe, Germany

Information Systems Research, 2024, vol. 35, issue 4, 1586-1608

Abstract: Employees’ precautionary security behaviors are vital to the effective protection of organizations from cybersecurity threats. Despite substantial security training efforts, employees frequently do not take security precautions. This study draws from trust theory and mindfulness theory to investigate how the bright- and dark-side effects of two conceptualizations of trust in organizational information security impact employees’ precaution taking. Insights drawn from a survey of 380 organizational employees suggest that employees who trust their organization’s security practices are more committed and less complacent in protecting their organization and more likely to take security precautions. In contrast, we find evidence of the dark-side effect of employees’ trust in organizational protective structures by showing that such trust can lead to complacency regarding security. Analyses indicate that security mindfulness mediates the influence of security complacency and security commitment on precaution taking. These results highlight the crucial roles of security commitment, security complacency, and security mindfulness in shaping employees’ precaution taking. This study contributes to information security research by providing empirical evidence concerning the simultaneous bright- and dark-side effects of employees’ trust in organizational information security, thereby creating valuable opportunities for researchers to theorize about the ways in which trusting beliefs shape employees’ security behaviors.

Keywords: trust; dark-side trust; bright-side trust; information security; mindfulness; commitment; complacency; precaution taking (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2024
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:inm:orisre:v:35:y:2024:i:4:p:1586-1608

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