Human factors in information leakage: mitigation strategies for information sharing integrity

Abstract

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore the human factors triggering information leakage and investigate how companies mitigate insider threat for information sharing integrity. Design/methodology/approach The methodology employed is multiple case studies approach with in-depth interviews with five multinational enterprises (MNEs)/multinational corporations (MNCs). Findings The findings reveal that information leakage can be approached with human governance mechanism such as organizational ethical climate and information security culture. Besides, higher frequency of leakages negatively affects information sharing integrity. Moreover, this paper also contributes to a research framework which could be a guide to overcome information leakage issue in information sharing. Research limitations/implications The current study involved MNCs/MNEs operating in Malaysia, while companies in other countries may have different ethical climate and information sharing culture. Thus, for future research, it will be good to replicate the study in a larger geographic region to verify the findings and insights of this research. Practical implications This research contributes to the industry and business that are striving toward solving the mounting problem of information leakage by raising awareness of human factors and to take appropriate mitigating governance strategies to pre-empt information leakage. This paper also contributes to a novel theoretical model that characterizes the iniquities of humans in sharing information, and suggests measures which could be a guide to avert disruptive leakages. Originality/value This paper is likely an unprecedented research in molding human governance in the domain of information sharing and its Achilles’ heel which is information leakage.