Perceived Utility as a Motivational Factor in Affecting Users’ Decisions to Download and Install Potentially Spyware-Infected Software

Spyware is acknowledged to be a growing problem in computing in the potential for privacy breaches, the theft of valuable data and facilitating the commission of other cybercrimes. This research paper is aimed at exploring perceived utility as a motivational factor in influencing user decisions to download and install free software containing spyware from the Internet. Data was collected through an online questionnaire sent to alumni of an Australian university, which was analyzed using quantitative methods. The findings revealed utility or immediate need is a strong and dominant motivating factor to download and install free software for most users even though it may be infected with spyware. The findings may have important implications for spyware proliferation and consumer protection, given the rapidly increasing uptake of online Internet activity by the general public supported by constantly improving technologies and online services

I Spy: The New Self-Cybersurveillance and the Internet of Things

Prior to the digital age, surveillance generally meant a government agent or private investigator engaged in a stakeout or observation detail that involved physical work, expense, and time. The digital age changed surveillance fundamentally. Today, we not only generate mountains of data for others, we also effectively surveil ourselves through digitally-connected, multifunctional smart devices, collectively described as the “Internet of Things.” Cybersurveillance accessed by the government, even when started as self-surveillance, raises complex and uncertain legal issues, especially when related to the Constitution. In United States v. Kyllo, the Supreme Court was reticent to allow government agents to use technology that went through the walls of homes, spying on people within without a warrant under the Fourth Amendment. Current technologies allow the police to do that and more, especially when all of the data is pieced together and analyzed in a personal mosaic. The implications are profound. Is there anything left of the public/private distinction? Does the invisibility of data transfer undermine the separation of powers and the ability to effectively check and balance the Executive branch’s spying operations? This paper examines the constitutional implications of the Internet of Things, arguing that unless models of consent and privacy are changed, outdated legal rules will fail to protect the individual from the state in fundamental ways

An Empirical Investigation Of The Influence Of Fear Appeals On Attitudes And Behavioral Intentions Associated With Recommended Individual Computer Security Actions

Through persuasive communication, IT executives strive to align the actions of end users with the desired security posture of management and of the firm. In many cases, the element of fear is incorporated within these communications. However, within the context of computer security and information assurance, it is not yet clear how these fear-inducing arguments, known as fear appeals, will ultimately impact the actions of end users. The purpose of this study is to examine the influence of fear appeals on the compliance of end users with recommendations to enact specific individual computer security actions toward the amelioration of threats. A two-phase examination was adopted that involved two distinct data collection and analysis procedures, and culminated in the development and testing of a conceptual model representing an infusion of theories based on prior research in Social Psychology and Information Systems (IS), namely the Extended Parallel Process Model (EPPM) and the Unified Theory of Acceptance and Use of Technology (UTAUT). Results of the study suggest that fear appeals do impact end users attitudes and behavioral intentions to comply with recommended individual acts of security, and that the impact is not uniform across all end users, but is determined in part by perceptions of self-efficacy, response efficacy, threat severity, threat susceptibility, and social influence. The findings suggest that self-efficacy and, to a lesser extent, response efficacy predict attitudes and behavioral intentions to engage individual computer security actions, and that these relationships are governed by perceptions of threat severity and threat susceptibility. The findings of this research will contribute to IS expectancy research, human-computer interaction, and organizational communication by revealing a new paradigm in which IT users form perceptions of the technology, not on the basis of performance gains, but on the basis of utility for threat amelioration