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A Systematic Review on Human Factors in Cybersecurity

  • Alghamdi, Ahmed (Department of Cybersecurity, College of Computer Science and Engineering, University of Jeddah)
  • Received : 2022.10.05
  • Published : 2022.10.30

Abstract

A huge budget is spent on technological solutions to protect Information Systems from cyberattacks by organizations. However, it is not enough to invest alone in technology-based protection and to keep humans out of the cyber loop. Humans are considered the weakest link in cybersecurity chain and most of the time unaware that their actions and behaviors have consequences in cyber space. Therefore, humans' aspects cannot be neglected in cyber security field. In this work we carry out a systematic literature review to identify human factors in cybersecurity. A total of 27 papers were selected to be included in the review, which focuses on the human factors in cyber security. The results show that in total of 14 identified human factors, risk perception, lack of awareness, IT skills and gender are considered critical for organization as for as cyber security is concern. Our results presented a further step in understanding human factors that may cause issues for organizations in cyber space and focusing on the need of a customized and inclusive training and awareness programs.

Keywords

Acknowledgement

This project was funded by the Deanship of Scientific Research (DSR), University of Jeddah, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia (Project number: UJ-02-18-DR).

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