Investigation of the variables that govern user behaviors related to e-crime attacks

Sammanfattning: The users´ behaviors play an important role in securing information systems. At the same time, the users´ bad behaviors end-up in making them victims to e-crime attacks. To emphasize the positive side of users´ behaviors, the reasons for the bad behaviors must be investigated. In this research, e-crimes on users in Sweden were studied using the protection motivation theory and the theory of planned behavior in order to understand what variables govern the user behaviors. The information retrieved from the literature review and the web survey were used to answer the research question about which variables within the two used theories affect the user behaviors in connection to e-crimes. It turned out that perceived vulnerability, perceived severity, and user-efficacy have significant effect on the selected user behavior. Besides, the analysis of the results showed that IT/IS-knowledge is a determinant factor that affects all the variables of the protection motivation theory.