Organizational Factors that Influence Information Security in Smes: A Case Study of Mogadishu, Somalia

Abstract

Many organizations and businesses are currently dependent on information systems to conduct their business process and transactions. The security of the information being handled by systems has become a challenge in the corporate world today, as organizations strive to take measures to safeguard their information and maintain confidentiality. The study aimed to investigate the factors that influence information security in Small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Mogadishu Somalia. The study was guided by the following research objectives: such as organizational characteristics, data management practices, and employee characteristics in organizations that affect information security in SMEs in Mogadishu Somalia. A quantitative descriptive research design was used in this study, whereby the population consisted of 150 respondents which was focused on Owners, Managers, and Information Security Engineers of Small and Medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) in Mogadishu. Out of which a sample size of 140 respondents was obtained, spread out across three categories. The researchesr applied the probability method to select Owners, Managers, and Information Security Engineers from the Small and Medium Enterprises in Mogadishu Somalia. The elements selected from the population interacted with information security and were well-qualified to respond to the research objectives. The researches used self-administered structured questionnaires, whereby the respondents were required to point out the measure of appropriateness of the three main factors that influence information security in SMEs in Mogadishu. The questionnaire used a five-point Likert-type scale ranging from strongly disagree (1) to strongly agree (5). The respondents were also asked to indicate demographic information that comprised of Sex, age, level of education, years of experience, job position, and marital status, based on their perception and understanding. The study was a quantitative research design, whereby a total of one hundred and fifty (150) questionnaires were distributed and one hundred and fourty (140) were returned from the respondents, indicating a response rate of 99%. The analysis of the data was performed in a quantitative nature so as to obtain numerical data made use of descriptive and correlation statistics and was analyzed using SPSS software. The data was structured according to the research objectives and displayed in the form of tables.