What Influences Information Security Behavior? A Study with Brazilian Users

The popularization of software to mitigate Information Security threats can produce an exaggerated notion about its full effectiveness in the elimination of any threat. This situation can result reckless users behavior, increasing vulnerability. Based on behavioral theories, a theoretical model and hypotheses were developed to understand the extent to which human perception of threat, stress, control and disgruntlement can induce responsible behavior. A self-administered questionnaire was created and validated. The data were collected in Brazil, and complementary results regarding similar studies conducted in USA were found. The results show that there is influence of information security orientations provided by organizations in the perception about severity of the threat. The relationship between threat, effort, control and disgruntlement, and the responsible behavior towards information security was verified through linear regression. The contributions also involve relatively new concepts in the field and a new research instrument.