Purpose Digital mobile radio communication networks are used for coordinating operations in many important sectors, including critical infrastructures and large industries. Despite this, there is a dearth of knowledge about how their information security is managed. The most commonly used standard for such networks is TETRA. Given the critical role of TETRA networks, this study aims to clarify how they are used, how their users manage information security and the implications of vulnerabilities in the standard. Design/methodology/approach The study is based on semi-structured interviews with representatives from 11 organizations in Sweden that own and operate TETRA networks, representing 32% of registered users in the country and a wide range of users and applications. Thematic analysis was used to analyze the data. Findings Management of TETRA networks is generally outsourced, leaving TETRA network owners with scant knowledge of the state of security in their networks. Although organizations have high demands on availability and integrity, the use of encryption and authentication is rare. Instead, users generally rely on the protocol’s complexity and obscurity for security. Because organizations’ core operations are often dependent on functioning TETRA networks, attacks can have severe consequences. Originality/value Previous research on security in digital mobile radio communication networks has focused on technical vulnerabilities in standards. This study is the first, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, to investigate users’ approaches to information security, the potential consequences of attacks and the implications of known security issues in this context.

Purpose Developing cybersecurity awareness (CSA) is becoming a more and more important goal for modern organizations. CSA is a complex sociotechnical system where social, technical and organizational aspects affect each other in an intertwined way. With the goal of providing a holistic representation of CSA, this paper aims to develop a taxonomy of factors that contribute to organizational CSA. Design/methodology/approach The research used a design science approach including a literature review and practitioner interviews. A taxonomy was drafted based on 71 previous research publications. It was then updated and refined in two iterations of interviews with domain experts. Findings The result of this research is a taxonomy which outline six domains for importance for organization CSA. Each domain includes several activities which can be undertaken to increase CSA within an organization. As such, it provides a holistic overview of the CSA field. Practical implications Organizations can adopt the taxonomy to create a roadmap for internal CSA practices. For example, an organization could assess how well it performs in the six main themes and use the subthemes as inspiration when deciding on CSA activities. Originality/value The output of this research provides an overview of CSA based on information extracted from existing literature and then reviewed by practitioners. It also outlines how different aspects of CSA are interdependent on each other.

Exploiting human behavior to gain unauthorized access to computer systems has become common practice for modern cybercriminals. Users are expected to adopt secure behavior to avoid those attackers. This secure behavior requires cognitive processing and is often seen as a nuisance which could explain why attacks exploiting user behavior continues to be a fruitful approach for attackers. While adopting secure behavior can be difficult for any user, it can be even more difficult for users with cognitive disabilities. This research focuses on users with cognitive disabilities with the intent of developing design principles for the development of cognitively accessible cybersecurity training. The target group is estimated to include almost 10% of all users but is previously understudied. The results show that the target group experience cybersecurity as cognitively demanding, sometimes to a degree that becomes incapacitating. Participating in cybersecurity training requires cognitive energy which is a finite resource. Cognitively accessible cybersecurity training requires a minimalist design approach and inclusion of accessibility functions. A minimalist design approach, in this case, means that both informative and design elements should be kept to a minimum. The rationale is that all such elements require cognitive processing which should be kept to a minimum.

Purpose This study aims to explore auto mechanics awareness of repairs and maintenance related to the car’s cybersecurity and provide insights into challenges based on current practice. Design/methodology/approach This study is based on an empirical study consisting of semistructured interviews with representatives from both branded and independent auto workshops. The data was analyzed using thematic analysis. A version of the capability maturity model was introduced to the respondents as a self-evaluation of their cybersecurity awareness. Findings Cybersecurity was not found to be part of the current auto workshop work culture, and that there is a gap between independent workshops and branded workshops. Specifically, in how they function, approach problems and the tools and support available to them to resolve (particularly regarding previously unknown) issues. Research limitations/implications Only auto workshop managers in Sweden were interviewed for this study. This role was picked because it is the most likely to have come in contact with cybersecurity-related issues. They may also have discussed the topic with mechanics, manufacturers or other auto workshops – thus providing a broader view of potential issues or challenges. Practical implications The challenges identified in this study offers actionable advice to car manufacturers, branded workshops and independent workshops. The goal is to further cooperation, improve knowledge sharing and avoid unnecessary safety or security issues. Originality/value As cars become smarter, they also become potential targets for cyberattacks, which in turn poses potential threats to human safety. However, research on auto workshops, which has previously ensured that cars are road safe, has received little research attention with regards to the role cybersecurity can play in repairs and maintenance. Insights from auto workshops can therefore shed light upon the unique challenges and issues tied to the cybersecurity of cars, and how they are kept up-to-date and road safe in the digital era.

Purpose For decades, literature has reported on the perceived conflict between usability and security. This mutual trade-off needs to be considered and addressed whenever security products are developed. Achieving well-balanced levels of both is a precondition for sufficient security as users tend to reject unusable solutions. To assess it correctly, usability should be evaluated in the context of security. This paper aims to identify and describe universally applicable and solution-independent factors that affect the perceived usability of security mechanisms. Design/methodology/approach The selected methodology was a systematic literature review during which multiple database resources were queried. Application of predefined selection criteria led to the creation of a bibliography before backward snowballing was applied to minimize the risk of missing material of importance. All 70 included publications were then analyzed through thematic analysis. Findings The study resulted in the identification of 14 themes and 30 associated subthemes representing aspects with reported influence on perceived usability in the context of security. While some of them were only mentioned sparsely, the most prominent and thus presumably most significant ones were: simplicity, information and support, task completion time, error rates and error management. Originality/value The identified novel themes can increase knowledge about factors that influence usability. This can be useful for different groups: end users may be empowered to choose appropriate solutions more consciously, developers may be able to avoid common usability pitfalls when designing new products and system administrators may benefit from a better understanding of how to configure solutions and how to educate users efficiently.

Purpose Using authentication to secure data and accounts has grown to be a natural part of computing. Even if several authentication methods are in existence, using passwords remain the most common type of authentication. As long and complex passwords are encouraged by research studies and practitioners alike, computer users design passwords using strategies that enable them to remember their passwords. This paper aims to find strategies that allow for the generation of passwords that are both memorable and computationally secure. Design/methodology/approach The study began with a literature review that was used to identify cognitive password creation strategies that facilitate the creation of passwords that are easy to remember. Using an action-based approach, attack models were created for the resulting creation strategies. The attack models were then used to calculate the entropy for passwords created with different strategies and related to a theoretical cracking time. Findings The result of this study suggests that using phrases with four or more words as passwords will generate passwords that are easy to remember and hard to attack. Originality/value This paper considers passwords from a socio-technical approach and provides insight into how passwords that are easy to remember and hard to crack can be generated. The results can be directly used to create password guidelines and training material that enables users to create usable and secure passwords.

Purpose Using passwords to keep account and data safe is very common in modern computing. The purpose of this paper is to look into methods for cracking passwords as a means of increasing security, a practice commonly used in penetration testing. Further, in the discipline of digital forensics, password cracking is often an essential part of a computer examination as data has to be decrypted to be analyzed. This paper seeks to look into how users that actively encrypt data construct their passwords to benefit the forensics community. Design/methodology/approach The study began with an automated analysis of over one billion passwords in 22 different password databases that leaked to the internet. The study validated the result with an experiment were passwords created on a local website was analyzed during account creation. Further a survey was used to gather data that was used to identify differences in password behavior between user that actively encrypt their data and other users. Findings The result of this study suggests that American lowercase letters and numbers are present in almost every password and that users seem to avoid using special characters if they can. Further, the study suggests that users that actively encrypt their data are more prone to use keyboard patterns as passwords than other users. Originality/value This paper contributes to the existing body of knowledge around password behavior and suggests that password-guessing attacks should focus on American letters and numbers. Further, the paper suggests that forensics experts should consider testing patterns-based passwords when performing password-guessing attacks against encrypted data.

This paper demonstrates how Context Based MicroTraining (CBMT) can be used to develop open educational resources in a way that benefits students enrolled in university courses as well as anyone who wants to participate in open-learning activities. CBMT is a framework that provides guidelines for how educational resources should be structured. CBMT stipulates that information should be presented in short sequences and that is relevant for the learner's current situation. In this paper, CBMT is implemented in a practical ICT course using video lectures that are delivered as open educational resources using YouTube. The experiences of enrolled students as well as YouTube users are evaluated as well as the actual results of the enrolled students. The results of the study suggest that users of the video lectures appreciate the learning approach. The actual results, i.e. learning outcomes, of the enrolled students are maintained. The study also demonstrates how using CBMT as open educational resources can free up time for teachers and increase the quality of teaching by benefitting from community feedback.

Purpose Using authentication to secure data and accounts has grown to be a natural part of computing. Even if several authentication methods are in existence, using passwords remains the most common type of authentication. As long and complex passwords are encouraged by research studies and practitioners alike, computer users design passwords using strategies that enable them to remember their passwords. This paper aims to present a taxonomy of those password creation strategies in the form of a model describing various strategies used to create passwords. Design/methodology/approach The study was conducted in a three-step process beginning with a short survey among forensic experts within the Swedish police. The model was then developed by a series of iterative semi-structured interviews with forensic experts. In the third and final step, the model was validated on 5,000 passwords gathered from 50 different password databases that have leaked to the internet. Findings The result of this study is a taxonomy of password creation strategies presented as a model that describes the strategies as properties that a password can hold. Any given password can be classified as holding one or more of the properties outlined in the model. Originality/value On an abstract level, this study provides insight into password creation strategies. As such, the model can be used as a tool for research and education. It can also be used by practitioners in, for instance, penetration testing to map the most used password creation strategies in a domain or by forensic experts when designing dictionary attacks.

Purpose – The purpose of the study was twofold: to investigate the correlation between a sample of personal psychological and demographic factors and resistance to phishing; and to investigate if national culture moderates the strength of these correlations. Design/methodology/approach – To measure potential determinants, a survey was distributed to 2,099 employees of nine organizations in Sweden, USA and India. Then, the authors conducted unannounced phishing exercises, in which a phishing attack targeted the same sample. Findings – Intention to resist social engineering, general information security awareness, formal IS training and computer experience were identified to have a positive significant correlation to phishing resilience. Furthermore, the results showed that the correlation between phishing determinants and employees’ observed that phishing behavior differs between Swedish, US and Indian employees in 6 out of 15 cases. Research limitations/implications – The identified determinants had, even though not strong, a significant positive correlation. This suggests that more work needs to be done to more fully understand determinants of phishing. The study assumes that culture effects apply to all individuals in a nation. However, differences based on cultures might exist based on firm characteristics within a country. The Swedish sample is dominating, while only 40 responses from Indian employees were collected. This unequal size of samples suggests that conclusions based on the results from the cultural analysis should be drawn cautiously. A natural continuation of the research is therefore to further explore the generalizability of the findings by collecting data from other nations with similar cultures as Sweden, USA and India. Originality/value – Using direct observations of employees’ security behaviors has rarely been used in previous research. Furthermore, analyzing potential differences in theoretical models based on national culture is an understudied topic in the behavioral information security field. This paper addresses both these issues.

Purpose – This paper aims to use user‐centred security development of a prototype graphical interface for a management information system dealing with information security with upper‐level management as the intended users.