Work ethic and information security behavior

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PurposeInformation security is a growing issue that impacts organizations in virtually all industries, and data breaches impact millions of customers and cost organizations millions of dollars. Within the past several years alone, huge data breaches have been experienced by organizations such as Marriot, Equifax, eBay, JP Morgan Chase, Home Depot, Target and Yahoo, the latter of which impacted three billion users. This study aims to examine the utilization of pre-employment screening to identify potential hires that may require enhanced information security training to avoid such costs.Design/methodology/approachThe authors hypothesize that an individual’s work ethic predicts a person’s information security behavior. The authors test this hypothesis using structural equation modeling with bootstrapping techniques.FindingsData analysis suggests that certain dimensions of work ethic do indeed predict information security posture, and thus, simple pre-employment screening techniques (i.e. questionnaires) can aid in identifying potential security threats.Practical implicationsThe findings provide a tool for identifying problematic employee security posture prior to hiring, which may be useful in identifying training needs for new hires.Originality/valueThe findings provide a tool for identifying problematic employee security posture prior to hiring, which may be useful in identifying training needs for new hires.