An Exploratory Study of the Information Security Behavior of Gamers
Open Access
Author:
Zhuang, John
Area of Honors:
Cybersecurity Analytics & Operations
Degree:
Bachelor of Science
Document Type:
Thesis
Thesis Supervisors:
Yubo Kou, Thesis Supervisor Michael Keith Hills, Thesis Honors Advisor
Keywords:
security behavior video games protection motivation theory gamers cybersecurity
Abstract:
Information security has continued to remain a critical issue in society. Gamers are a population of interest that contain more technological mastery than most due to their extended time with devices and technical gaming matters. Consequently, gamers may display various behaviors or traits that can encourage information security related behaviors. However, gamers are under-represented in security research studies. This study addresses this research gap by examining factors that motivate gamers’ information security behaviors. The protection motivation theory (PMT) provides a theoretical framework for understanding user security behavior that is adopted in the model. A survey of 122 responses from gamers is used to test the designed model using Partial Least Squares regression to analyze relationships among variables. Results demonstrate that gamers are motivated to practice information security behavior if high levels of vulnerability, severity, self-efficacy, and response cost are perceived. However, response efficacy did not influence the security behavior of gamers. The findings suggest that gamers’ information security behaviors are generally effective with potential for future research into strengthened security behavior.
