Towards an improved understanding of human factors in cybersecurity

Cybersecurity cannot be addressed by technology alone; the most intractable aspects are in fact sociotechnical. As a result, the ‘human factor’ has been recognised as being the weakest and most obscure link in creating safe and secure digital environments. This study examines the subjective and often complex nature of human factors in the cybersecurity context through a systematic literature review of 27 articles which span across technical, behavior and social sciences perspectives. Results from our study suggest that there is still a predominately a technical focus, which excludes the consideration of human factors in cybersecurity. Our literature review suggests that this is due to a lack of consolidation of the attributes pertaining to human factors; the application of theoretical frameworks; and a lack of in-depth qualitative studies. To ensure that these gaps are addressed, we propose that future studies take into consideration (a) consolidating the human factors; (b) examining cyber security from an interdisciplinary approach; (c) conducting additional qualitative research whilst investigating human factors in cybersecurity.