English abstract
Individuals and organizations are relying on social media in sharing information and
knowledge. On the other hand, criminals find social media applications as a rich place
to attack using techniques like phishing, fraud, and blackmail. While the rate of
blackmail crime is growing, there is a lack of literature. The dangerous consequences
of online blackmail alert organizations to have certain regulations related to
information security. This study aims to examine the impact of information security
regulation factors like information security awareness, policies, and culture toward
avoiding online blackmail threats. The study proposes a model that has constructs
from technology threat avoidance theory (TTAT), the theory of planned behavior
(TPB), and organizational control (OC). A quantitative approach based on an online
survey was conducted to collect data from 547 employees and students from different
industrial backgrounds. SPSS and SmartPLS software were used to analyze the
collected data. The results show that information security culture and information
security awareness has an impact on user's motivation to avoid online blackmail
threats through attitude. Furthermore, perceiving a mandated policy significantly
impacts avoidance behavior. In addition, apathy and anticipated regret have a
significant role in avoidance motivation. These results give evidence on the importance
of the social factors in impacting the avoidance motivation using TTAT model. It
contributes theoretically to having a basic and conceptual framework for future studies
related to TTAT. Practically, the study encourages organizations to focus more on
specifying policies and building an information security culture to ensure compliance
and motivation by users to avoid these threats. Besides that, it shows the importance
of having a mandated formal policy in impacting the user to behave correctly in
avoiding online blackmail threats.
