Insider Threats and Individual Differences: Intention and Unintentional Motivations

The present study extends a cybersecurity questionnaire (CSEC) by including items that differentiate cyber hygiene behavior, self-disclosure vulnerability, intrusion vulnerability, and persuasion vulnerability. Using individual difference measures that are related to performance in experimental tasks, the present study provides evidence that individuals high in emotionality (i.e., fear and anxiety) and low in moral motivations (i.e., fairness and morality) are more likely to report engaging in behaviors related to unintentional insider threats. Consequently, this study provides further evidence that CSEC+ can be used to assess critical cybersecurity practices from the perspective of insiders.