Towards a Model of Social Media Impacts on Cybersecurity Knowledge Transfer

Abstract

Technical solutions to security have been suggested but found lacking and it has been recognized that security is a people issue as well, and behavioral research on information security is critical. Individual learning about cybersecurity is not formal and linear, but complex and network based. In this paper we develop a model of how social media characteristics impact cybersecurity knowledge transfer using technology threat avoidance theory. In developing the conceptual model we seek to answer the following questions. How do users discover cybersecurity knowledge on social media platforms? What are the platform and interaction characteristics that enable them to find cybersecurity knowledge and share this knowledge with others? In doing so we consider the impact of the threat and protection context on cybersecurity knowledge transfer which is different from knowledge transfer in the other contexts.