IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/taf/tjorxx/v69y2018i5p747-761.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Comparison of information security decisions under different security and business environments

Author

Listed:
  • Yong Wu
  • Gengzhong Feng
  • Richard Y. K. Fung

Abstract

Serious information security breaches have caused firms to suffer from customer churns directly or indirectly. To prevent customer churns, firms usually enhance their security protection through two measures, i.e. security investment and security information sharing. Prior studies seldom consider security environment and business environment simultaneously when making a firm’s optimal security decisions. Using game theory, this paper purports to demonstrate that a firm’s security decisions under a competitive environment differ significantly from those under an integrated environment. Moreover, distortions may surface if firms do not cooperate on security practices. Thus, this paper further analyses the measures that a social planner such as the government or industry association controls firms’ security decisions, and results show that these measures may not always be effective. Instead, social planners are recommended to enhance or attenuate the controlling level of the two security decisions based on realistic security and business environments.

Suggested Citation

  • Yong Wu & Gengzhong Feng & Richard Y. K. Fung, 2018. "Comparison of information security decisions under different security and business environments," Journal of the Operational Research Society, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 69(5), pages 747-761, May.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:tjorxx:v:69:y:2018:i:5:p:747-761
    DOI: 10.1057/s41274-017-0263-y
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1057/s41274-017-0263-y
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1057/s41274-017-0263-y?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Chul Ho Lee & Xianjun Geng & Srinivasan Raghunathan, 2013. "Contracting Information Security in the Presence of Double Moral Hazard," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 24(2), pages 295-311, June.
    2. Kallberg, Jarl G. & Udell, Gregory F., 2003. "The value of private sector business credit information sharing: The US case," Journal of Banking & Finance, Elsevier, vol. 27(3), pages 449-469, March.
    3. Tanaka, Hideyuki & Matsuura, Kanta & Sudoh, Osamu, 2005. "Vulnerability and information security investment: An empirical analysis of e-local government in Japan," Journal of Accounting and Public Policy, Elsevier, vol. 24(1), pages 37-59.
    4. Kjell Hausken, 2014. "Returns to information security investment: Endogenizing the expected loss," Information Systems Frontiers, Springer, vol. 16(2), pages 329-336, April.
    5. Esther Gal-Or & Anindya Ghose, 2005. "The Economic Incentives for Sharing Security Information," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 16(2), pages 186-208, June.
    6. Xing Gao & Weijun Zhong, 2015. "Information security investment for competitive firms with hacker behavior and security requirements," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 235(1), pages 277-300, December.
    7. Kjell Hausken, 2010. "Risk, production and conflict when utilities are as if certain," International Journal of Decision Sciences, Risk and Management, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 2(3/4), pages 228-251.
    8. Derrick Huang, C. & Hu, Qing & Behara, Ravi S., 2008. "An economic analysis of the optimal information security investment in the case of a risk-averse firm," International Journal of Production Economics, Elsevier, vol. 114(2), pages 793-804, August.
    9. Kjell Hausken, 2006. "Returns to information security investment: The effect of alternative information security breach functions on optimal investment and sensitivity to vulnerability," Information Systems Frontiers, Springer, vol. 8(5), pages 338-349, December.
    10. Kjell Hausken, 2011. "Production, safety, exchange, and risk," International Journal of Business Continuity and Risk Management, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 2(4), pages 346-350.
    11. Xing Gao & Weijun Zhong & Shue Mei, 2014. "A game-theoretic analysis of information sharing and security investment for complementary firms," Journal of the Operational Research Society, Palgrave Macmillan;The OR Society, vol. 65(11), pages 1682-1691, November.
    12. Xing Gao & Weijun Zhong, 2016. "A differential game approach to security investment and information sharing in a competitive environment," IISE Transactions, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 48(6), pages 511-526, June.
    13. Gordon, Lawrence A. & Loeb, Martin P. & Lucyshyn, William, 2003. "Sharing information on computer systems security: An economic analysis," Journal of Accounting and Public Policy, Elsevier, vol. 22(6), pages 461-485.
    14. Alison J. Kirby, 1988. "Trade Associations as Information Exchange Mechanisms," RAND Journal of Economics, The RAND Corporation, vol. 19(1), pages 138-146, Spring.
    15. Xing Gao & Weijun Zhong & Shue Mei, 2015. "Security investment and information sharing under an alternative security breach probability function," Information Systems Frontiers, Springer, vol. 17(2), pages 423-438, April.
    16. Kjell Hausken, 2012. "Production versus safety in a risky competitive industry," International Journal of Decision Sciences, Risk and Management, Inderscience Enterprises Ltd, vol. 4(1/2), pages 92-107.
    17. Chul Ho Lee & Xianjun Geng & Srinivasan Raghunathan, 2016. "Mandatory Standards and Organizational Information Security," Information Systems Research, INFORMS, vol. 27(1), pages 70-86, March.
    18. Hausken, Kjell, 2007. "Information sharing among firms and cyber attacks," Journal of Accounting and Public Policy, Elsevier, vol. 26(6), pages 639-688.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Yong Wu & Mengyao Xu & Dong Cheng & Tao Dai, 2022. "Information Security Strategies for Information-Sharing Firms Considering a Strategic Hacker," Decision Analysis, INFORMS, vol. 19(2), pages 99-122, June.
    2. Yong Wu & Junlin Duan & Tao Dai & Dong Cheng, 2020. "Managing Security Outsourcing in the Presence of Strategic Hackers," Decision Analysis, INFORMS, vol. 17(3), pages 235-259, September.
    3. Suyuan Luo & Tsan‐Ming Choi, 2022. "E‐commerce supply chains with considerations of cyber‐security: Should governments play a role?," Production and Operations Management, Production and Operations Management Society, vol. 31(5), pages 2107-2126, May.
    4. Xing Gao & Siyu Gong, 2022. "An economic analysis of information security outsourcing with competitive firms," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 43(7), pages 2748-2758, October.
    5. Xiaofei Qian & Jun Pei & Xinbao Liu & Mi Zhou & Panos M. Pardalos, 2019. "Information security decisions for two firms in a market with different types of customers," Journal of Combinatorial Optimization, Springer, vol. 38(4), pages 1263-1285, November.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Yong Wu & Mengyao Xu & Dong Cheng & Tao Dai, 2022. "Information Security Strategies for Information-Sharing Firms Considering a Strategic Hacker," Decision Analysis, INFORMS, vol. 19(2), pages 99-122, June.
    2. Yosra Miaoui & Noureddine Boudriga, 2019. "Enterprise security investment through time when facing different types of vulnerabilities," Information Systems Frontiers, Springer, vol. 21(2), pages 261-300, April.
    3. Xing Gao & Weijun Zhong & Shue Mei, 2015. "Security investment and information sharing under an alternative security breach probability function," Information Systems Frontiers, Springer, vol. 17(2), pages 423-438, April.
    4. Yosra Miaoui & Noureddine Boudriga, 0. "Enterprise security investment through time when facing different types of vulnerabilities," Information Systems Frontiers, Springer, vol. 0, pages 1-40.
    5. Xing Gao & Weijun Zhong, 2016. "Economic incentives in security information sharing: the effects of market structures," Information Technology and Management, Springer, vol. 17(4), pages 361-377, December.
    6. Xing Gao & Weijun Zhong, 2015. "Information security investment for competitive firms with hacker behavior and security requirements," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 235(1), pages 277-300, December.
    7. Xiaofei Qian & Jun Pei & Xinbao Liu & Mi Zhou & Panos M. Pardalos, 2019. "Information security decisions for two firms in a market with different types of customers," Journal of Combinatorial Optimization, Springer, vol. 38(4), pages 1263-1285, November.
    8. Kjell Hausken, 2017. "Security Investment, Hacking, and Information Sharing between Firms and between Hackers," Games, MDPI, vol. 8(2), pages 1-23, May.
    9. Xiaotong Li, 2022. "An evolutionary game‐theoretic analysis of enterprise information security investment based on information sharing platform," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 43(3), pages 595-606, April.
    10. Xing Gao & Weijun Zhong, 2016. "A differential game approach to security investment and information sharing in a competitive environment," IISE Transactions, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 48(6), pages 511-526, June.
    11. Xing Gao & Siyu Gong, 2022. "An economic analysis of information security outsourcing with competitive firms," Managerial and Decision Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 43(7), pages 2748-2758, October.
    12. Xinbao Liu & Xiaofei Qian & Jun Pei & Panos M. Pardalos, 2018. "Security investment and information sharing in the market of complementary firms: impact of complementarity degree and industry size," Journal of Global Optimization, Springer, vol. 70(2), pages 413-436, February.
    13. Levitin, Gregory & Hausken, Kjell & Taboada, Heidi A. & Coit, David W., 2012. "Data survivability vs. security in information systems," Reliability Engineering and System Safety, Elsevier, vol. 100(C), pages 19-27.
    14. Mazaher Kianpour & Stewart J. Kowalski & Harald Øverby, 2021. "Systematically Understanding Cybersecurity Economics: A Survey," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 13(24), pages 1-28, December.
    15. Alessandro Fedele & Cristian Roner, 2022. "Dangerous games: A literature review on cybersecurity investments," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 36(1), pages 157-187, February.
    16. David Iliaev & Sigal Oren & Ella Segev, 2023. "A Tullock-contest-based approach for cyber security investments," Annals of Operations Research, Springer, vol. 320(1), pages 61-84, January.
    17. Kjell Hausken, 2017. "Information Sharing Among Cyber Hackers in Successive Attacks," International Game Theory Review (IGTR), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 19(02), pages 1-33, June.
    18. Guang Zhu & Hu Liu & Mining Feng, 2018. "An Evolutionary Game-Theoretic Approach for Assessing Privacy Protection in mHealth Systems," IJERPH, MDPI, vol. 15(10), pages 1-27, October.
    19. Meilin He & Laura Devine & Jun Zhuang, 2018. "Perspectives on Cybersecurity Information Sharing among Multiple Stakeholders Using a Decision‐Theoretic Approach," Risk Analysis, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 38(2), pages 215-225, February.
    20. Kjell Hausken, 2018. "Proactivity and Retroactivity of Firms and Information Sharing of Hackers," International Game Theory Review (IGTR), World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte. Ltd., vol. 20(01), pages 1-30, March.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:taf:tjorxx:v:69:y:2018:i:5:p:747-761. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Chris Longhurst (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.tandfonline.com/tjor .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.