Neutralization Tendencies in Information Systems Security Violation

Abstract

It is estimated that over half of all information systems security breaches are due directly or indirectly to employee’s poor security practices in organizations. This problem is considered the biggest threat to an organization because employees are trusted with the knowledge and privilege of organization’s resources. Previous research has shown neutralization techniques as having influence on the intent to violate information security policy. What has not been determine from extant information security research is an explanation that address why employees drift into a neutralization state in the first place. We propose an expansion of the neutralization model by including the effects of business orientation and ethical orientation of individuals on their tendencies to neutralize and compromise with information security policy.