Readiness for information security of teachers as a function of their personality traits and their assessment of threats

Abstract

PurposeThis study examines the impact of personality traits on the degree of challenge experienced by individuals with respect to the threat on their information, the evaluation of their self-efficacy to secure the information and hence, their readiness to secure information.Design/methodology/approachThe study's population consisted of 157 teachers from various educational institutions across Israel. We used five questionnaires to gather data.FindingsFindings reveal a link between participants' personality traits, situation evaluation indicators and their readiness to secure information. Further, the greater subjects' information security awareness and familiarity with information security concepts, the better their application of the tools for securing information will be.Originality/valueThe importance of this research lies primarily in that it highlights the importance of individual differences while dealing with information security awareness. The findings constitute a theoretical and empirical basis for building tools toward guiding teachers to protect their information, as well as for devising educational and pedagogic programs for making a cultural change.