Measurement of organisational variables associated with cyber security preparedness in Turkey

This paper is an exploratory study providing five new measurements of security manager perceptions associated with organisational cyber security preparedness. According to the Health Belief Model (HBM), cyber security preparations would be influenced by security managers’ perceived threats of cybercrime and their perceived barriers to making cyber security preparation. Study participants were security managers from 215 organisations in Turkey who completed anonymous questionnaires to report organisational demographics, and to respond to a new 13-item measure of cyber security preparation. They also reported perceived threats using three new measures (types of cybercrime threat, sources of cybercrime threat, sectors threatened by cybercrime) and perceived barriers using a new measure of organisational cyber security barriers. Demographics found associated with greater cyber security preparation included being in the industrialised Marmara region, having 1,000+ employees, and having at least 3 per cent of the organisation’s budget devoted to cyber security. Greater cyber security preparation was significantly associated with security manager perceptions of more sectors threatened and, surprisingly, more organisational barriers. One interpretation of the present results would be that security managers are motivated to make cyber security preparations when they become aware of the wide range of business sectors threatened, but that in the process of making these preparations, they discover the organisational barriers they must overcome, such as insufficient budgets and insufficient government guidance.