May 21, 2019

The determinants of individual cyber security behaviours.

A qualitative research among French students

Prof. Bertrand VenardMarie Sklodowska-Curie FellowOxford Internet Institute

3 & 4 June 2019EU Project N°792137: Cybersecurity

Research Design

RQ : what are the determinants of cyber security behaviour?

Step 3 : French Qualitative Phase

Step 4 : British Qualitative Phase

Step 2 : Literature Review

Step 1 : Research Project Management

Step 5 : Quantitative Phase

Step 6 : Agent-Based Modelling

New Research Project ?

Step 7 : Research Dissemination

French Qualitative Phase

France

60 interviews from 22/3/2017 to 3/2/2019

Major : 30 Management + 30 Engineering

Interviews duration : 57’ on average (32’ to 88’)

19 Mac / 41 PC users

29 female students / 31 male students

Average age : 22.8

Master students, 58 French students + 2Foreign students

Problematic Behaviour

“Yes, I use an anti-virus but

it is certainly an expired

version. I am too lazy to get

the update for the last

version… I don’t think that it

is so important to have the

latest version …”

Perceived personalsusceptibility to digital threat

“Through habit, I have an

anti-virus … because we

had it before… but, am I

somebody so important so

that a hacker will try to

hack my computer? I don’t

think so”

Absence of past security issues

“I have never had any

severe problems. So,

logically, I don’t need to

protect myself”

Neutralization: the deny

“I know nobody who has

been a victim of cyber crime

and so I have the feeling

that this is actually very rare

… Thus, I have the

impression that I don’t need

to change my behaviour”

Neutralization: lack of resources

“Mainly, I cannot protect

myself due to my financial

deficit. I don’t have

enough money for this”

Neutralization: lack of time

“I have not time for any

backup”

Self-efficacy

“I don’t know where to

start to protect myself”

Guardianship

“I am influenced a little

by my mother and my

uncle, especially

because they started to

warn me about security

when I was very young”

Conformity

“Yes, a lot of it comes

from colleagues, the

classmates who say:

watch out, this is not

good, this is the way”