Improving information security awareness and behaviour through dialogue, participation and collective reflection. An intervention study

The paper discusses and evaluates the effects of an information security awareness programme. The programme emphasised employee participation, dialogue and collective reflection in groups. The intervention consisted of small-sized workshops aimed at improving information security awareness and behaviour. An experimental research design consisting of one survey before and two after the intervention was used to evaluate whether the intended changes occurred. Statistical analyses revealed that the intervention was powerful enough to significantly change a broad range of awareness and behaviour indicators among the intervention participants. In the control group, awareness and behaviour remained by and large unchanged during the period of the study. Unlike the approach taken by the intervention studied in this paper, mainstream information security awareness measures are typically top-down, and seek to bring about changes at the individual level by means of an expert-based approach directed at a large population, e.g. through formal presentations, e-mail messages, leaflets and posters. This study demonstrates that local employee participation, collective reflection and group processes produce changes in short-term information security awareness and behaviour.