A Study of Cybersecurity Behavior of Bahraini Employees in the Banking Sector

Abstract

Abstract : Purpose: The focus of this thesis is on studying the effect of cybersecurity culture on employees' behavior, specifically in the banking sector in Bahrain. The thesis will also evaluate the impact of external influences and internal mechanisms on security culture. This study will determine the impact of these factors on employee security behavior by identifying the most influential and the least influential of these factors. Furthermore, the purpose of this study is to identify the challenges faced by Bahraini organizations when achieving a high level of cybersecurity culture to enhance employee security behavior. The purpose of this research is to provide organizations with suggestions about how to achieve a high level of cybersecurity culture. Design/ Methodology/ Approach: The research used a qualitative approach to acquire extensive knowledge of previous literature and to identify what previous literature suggested in relation to the research question. In order to create a conceptual framework for this research, the researcher used a qualitative approach, which was adapted to better suit the analysis of the thesis by the researcher. Comparatively, a quantitative approach was employed to obtain answers to Bahrain's research questions by using structured close-ended questions in focused group interviews. This study utilized the deductive methodology, which was selected so that the researcher could reason from generic to unique by using it A prior research paper was used to develop the interview questions, which were modified to provide comprehensive primary data. Consequently, the interview questions were entered into an online data input system and coded, and the answers were designed using a LikertScale (a five-point rating scale). This study involved 108 Bahraini citizens, who were working in Bahrain at the time of the research. The participants were from different organizational sizes and different occupational levels within the banking sector. Additionally, random sampling was used to select respondents, and data was analyzed using the SVM through the machine learning pipeline. Findings: The findings indicate that all proposed factors have an effect on cybersecurity culture in the banking sector in Bahrain, with the Organization Mechanisms factor having the greatest influence whereas the External Influences factor has the least influence Employees' intentions to behave or their behavior on cybersecurity matters can be influenced by cybersecurity culture. Keywords: Cybersecurity, cybersecurity culture, organizational culture, security awareness, employee behavior, Bahraini banking, Machine Learning, Support Vector Machine (SVM).