The impact of extended global ransomware attacks on trust: How the attacker's competence and institutional trust influence the decision to pay

© 2018 Association for Information Systems. All rights reserved. The standardization, interconnectivity and pervasiveness of information systems, combined with the increasing ability to collect and utilize data, enhance the value they offer a user. These strengths however can also be turned into a weakness and vulnerability by ransomware (RW). RW can utilize the functionality of current systems both to infect them but also to increase the magnitude of the attack. This research proposes a model of the impact of the RW attack on the user's trust, which in turn has an effect on their decision to pay the ransom or follow the guidance from the relevant institutions. The model shows that the effectiveness of the attack, the trust in the competence of the attacker and ransomware demands that are reasonable and easy to fulfil, positively influence the intention to pay the ransom. The initial institutional response, institutional trust and institutional solution influence the intention to follow the institutional guidance

Individual trust development in computer mediated teamwork

Facilitated group collaboration is evolving into a new generation in Web 2.0 using new technology such as online group systems. Building trust is vital to group collaboration. Risk, benefit, utility value, power and interest are six factors that influence individual trust development. This paper further develops the Scale Balance Model based on the Individual Trust Development Model in order to investigate individual trust development in facilitated group collaboration. There is a two stage investigation using a survey from face-to-face student groups with Web based group system support. The model is used to analyse the individual trust development in the sample. The results of applying the improved model can help give feedback and advice for future collaboration research. Copyright 200 ACM

Designing a talents training model for cross-border e-commerce: a mixed approach of problem-based learning with social media

© 2019, Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature. Cross-border e-commerce has developed rapidly integrating the global economy. Research has presented some solutions for the challenges and barriers in cross-border e-commerce from the perspective of the enterprise. However, little is known about the requirements of cross-border e-commerce talents and how to train them. In this paper, we firstly conducted semi-structured interviews to acquire the requirements of cross-border e-commerce talents. Business and market knowledge, technical skills, analytical ability and business practical ability were found to be the four core requirements. Then, we integrated problem-based learning and social media to design a talents training model for cross-border e-commerce and did a program to evaluate effectiveness of the model. Finally, its effectiveness was evaluated from the four evaluation dimensions of attitude, perceived enjoyment, concentration and work intention. The talents training model was improved according to the suggestions

An experimental study of satisfaction response: Evaluation of online collaborative learning

On the one hand, a growing amount of research discusses support for improving online collaborative learning quality, and many indicators are focused to assess its success. On the other hand, thinkLets for designing reputable and valuable collaborative processes have been developed for more than ten years. However, few studies try to apply thinkLets to online collaborative learning. This paper introduces thinkLets to online collaborative learning and experimentally tests its effectiveness with participants' responses on their satisfaction. Yield Shift Theory (YST), a causal theory explaining inner satisfaction, is adopted. In the experiment, 113 students from Universities in Beijing, China are chosen as a sample. They were divided into two groups, collaborating online in a simulated class. Then, YST in student groups under online collaborative learning is validated, a comparison study of online collaborative learning with and without thinkLets is implemented, and the satisfaction response of participants are analyzed. As a result of this comparison, YST is proved applicable in this context, and satisfaction is higher in online collaborative learning with thinkLets

Investigating the individual trust and school performance in semi-virtual collaboration groups

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the relationship between individual trust of students in computer supported semi-virtual collaboration groups and student’s performance in school. Design/methodology/approach: Longitudinal questionnaires and interviews are conducted during the case study. By analyzing the data from the questionnaires and the grade earned by the students, the sample students are ranked with respect to the trust level and individual performance. Furthermore, the Wilcoxon signed-rank test is used to compare individual trust level and performance in the computer supported semi-virtual collaborative environment. Findings: The distribution of an individual’s trust level is roughly consistent with the distribution of the individual’s performance in the collaboration. Besides, the relationship between a student’s trust level and the student’s performance is positively correlated. Research limitations/implications: This study integrates the issues of trust, school performance, and collaboration in an educational context. Furthermore, the conclusions drawn from this paper extend the literature of multiple disciplines including education, management, and psychology. Practical implications: The conclusions could apply in the fields of education and management since the analysis revealed the relationship between an individual’s trust level and their performance. Originality/value: This study contributes to the field of trust and collaboration research with a link to trust development and performance. The study also provides an insight into how to successfully improve the performance of student semi-virtual collaboration groups

Investigating the impact of IT-mediated information interruption on emotional exhaustion in the workplace

Information technology-mediated interruptions have become widespread and ubiquitous in the workplace. However, our understanding of how these interruptions and individuals’ interruption processing mechanism impact individuals’ performance, especially psychological performance, is still limited. Leveraging Conservation of Resources Theory, this study focused on two types of IT-mediated information interruptions (congruent and incongruent) and examined the moderating effects of different process mechanisms on the relationship between information interruptions and individuals’ interruption overload. A multi-methods research design was conducted in this study: a qualitative study with 20 interviews in Study 1 and a quantitative study with 345 surveys in Study 2. The results show a positive indirect effect of IT-mediated information interruption on emotional exhaustion through interruption overload. Results also review the moderation effects of different processing mechanisms. The findings of this study advance the current understanding of the “dark side” of online information behavior. Additionally, this study provides practical and theoretical implications for both employers and employees on how to process IT-mediated information interruptions in the workplace.</div

Modeling individual trust development in computer mediated collaboration: A comparison of approaches

This research models and investigates individual trust development over time in computer mediated collaboration. Risk, benefit, utility value, effort, power and interest are six factors that influence individual trust development. This paper introduces two new approaches, the scale balance model and the trust spider diagram, to help model and investigate individual trust development over time. A 2 year longitudinal case study is used to investigate individual trust development based on a yearlong student project. 16 student groups participated in the computer mediated collaboration. Survey data were collected at three points throughout the project year and the results are analyzed using the two approaches. Interviews were also conducted at the end of the project. In this research, interesting findings, such as some dynamic features, are revealed by using the methods. Each approach to analyzing individual trust development has its strengths and weaknesses, and using the two together has the benefit of mitigating some weaknesses and combining the strengths. Analyzing trust development over time contributes to enhance computer mediated collaboration in both theoretical research and practical application

A case study of individual trust development in computer mediated collaboration teams

Individual trust development is vital to online collaboration in teams. A semi-virtual case study, which is composed of eight collaborative student groups using Web based computer support, is tracked by the authors over one year. Surveys, interviews and documentation are applied in the data collection. A scale balance model and trust spider diagram are used to analyze the data for all three stages of this case study. A sample group is analyzed in this paper. This research offers insight into how individual trust develops over time in computer mediated collaboration. The results of each group in this case are discussed. Some new trust factors which may be important to individual trust development are also presented in this paper. © 2009 IEEE

Can global, extended, and repeated ransomware attacks overcome the user's status quo bias and cause a switch of system?

Ransomware (RW) attacks’ effectiveness has increased causing far reaching consequences that are not fully understood. The ability to disrupt core services, the global reach, extended duration and the repetition has increased their ability to harm an organization. One aspect that needs to be understood better is the effect on the user. The user in the current environment is exposed to new technologies that might be adopted but there are also habits of using existing systems. The habits have developed over time with trust increasing in the organization in contact directly and the institutions supporting it. This research explores whether the global, extended and repeated RW attacks reduce the trust and inertia sufficiently to change long held habits in using information systems. The model tested measures the effect of the RW attack on the e-commerce status quo to evaluate if it is significant enough to overcome the user’s resistance to change

Investigating individual trust in semi-virtual collaboration of multicultural and unicultural teams

© 2016 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved. This study aims to investigate individual's trust development for semi-virtual collaboration teams with multicultural and unicultural background. We aim to explore whether the trust levels in multicultural and unicultural semi-virtual groups will be the same, how trust develops over time and what the corresponding factors to the trust development are. In order to answer the questions, a longitudinal case study was conducted in unicultural and multicultural teams. We have taken survey for 144 participants over three stages, as well as interviewed 64 participants. Results of the analysis of the survey data firstly show that no significant difference exists between multicultural and unicultural groups. Then, two factors, collaboration process and clear task help explain this phenomenon. However, the trust development of multicultural groups shows instability and keeps decreasing over time, while unicultural groups behave differently. We found that language, values and habitual behavior lead to the differences in these two types of groups