Correlates of computer misuse: data from a self-reporting sample
Vincent F. Sacco, Elia T. Zureik · Behaviour and Information Technology · 1990
Most of what is currently known about the causes and social distribution of computer crime is derived from the records of law enforcement agencies or from surveys of organizations that are victims of such crime. Through the use of an alternative data collection strategy, the self-report survey, the present study investigates computer misuse in a sample of Canadian undergraduate university students. The methodology allows an examination of some of the social and perceptual factors that previous research suggests might be related to computer offending. The study reveals that scores on a measure of computer misuse are not strongly correlated with respondents' social characteristics. However, the data also indicate that respondents' beliefs about the ethics and prevalence of misuse affect their own levels of involvement in such activity. The paper concludes with a discussion of some of the implications that these findings might have for the study and for the prevention of computer crime.