Social Network Self-Protection Model:What Motivates Users to Self-Protect?
Damjan Fujs, An�e Mihelič, Simon L. R. Vrhovec, An�e Mihelič · Journal of Cyber Security and Mobility · 2019
Social networks are an indispensable activity for billions of users making them an attractive target for cyberattacks.There is however only scarce research on self-protection of individuals outside the organizational context.This study aims to address this gap by explaining what motivates individuals to self-protect on social networks.A survey (N = 274) has been conducted among Slovenian Facebook users to test the proposed social network selfprotection model.The results show that privacy concerns and perceived threats significantly affect user's intention to self-protect.Descriptive norm only affects intention indirectly through perceived threats appearing to contradict a large body of research on behavioral intentions."If others protect themselves, there must be a serious threat."On the other hand, it also helps to explain why the direct effect of descriptive norm on security-related behavior is relatively small in other studies.Surveillance concerns, regulation and information sensitivity all significantly affect privacy concerns.Although privacy concerns are currently high due to the recent high-profile privacy-related scandals (e.g., Cambridge Analytica, Facebook, Google+), it may not affect the motivation of users to self-protect as they dealt with issues far beyond their control.