Assessment of information security maturity

Abstract

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to examine the basis factors involved in the information security management systems of Malaysian public service (MPS) organizations. Therefore, it proposes an empirical analysis which was conducted to identify the antecedents of the information security maturity (ISM) of an organization; and to clarify the relationship between ISM and the social and technical factors identified.Design/methodology/approach – This study uses quantitative approach, convenience sampling and the required data collected from 970 key players' managers in information security, in a total of 722 government agencies, through a self‐administrated survey. Research adopted the Wallace et al. process to develop and validate the study's instrument.Findings – The paper provides empirical insights and reveals a number of underlying dimensions of social factors and one technical factor. The risk management was found to be the formal coping mechanism adopted in the MPS organizations and is the leading...