Determinants of Cyberattack Prevention in UAE Financial Organizations: Assessing the Mediating Role of Cybersecurity Leadership

Cyberattack prevention factors have a significant impact on the perception of social and moral values in the business context. Despite leaders’ significant role in encouraging and enculturating cybersecurity practices in their organizations, there is a noticeable gap in the literature to highlight e...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Authors: Nabil Hasan Al-Kumaim, Sultan Khalifa Alshamsi
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: MDPI AG 2023-05-01
Series:Applied Sciences
Subjects:
Online Access:https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/13/10/5839
_version_ 1827742263558537216
author Nabil Hasan Al-Kumaim
Sultan Khalifa Alshamsi
author_facet Nabil Hasan Al-Kumaim
Sultan Khalifa Alshamsi
author_sort Nabil Hasan Al-Kumaim
collection DOAJ
description Cyberattack prevention factors have a significant impact on the perception of social and moral values in the business context. Despite leaders’ significant role in encouraging and enculturating cybersecurity practices in their organizations, there is a noticeable gap in the literature to highlight empirically how leaders and top management in organizations foster organizational cybersecurity. Therefore, this study aims to explore the role of cybersecurity leadership in financial organizations in preventing cyberattacks and investigate other human and non-technical factors related to the individual in financial organizations. Based on Protection Motivation Theory (PMT), the research framework was developed with the tallying of new variables focusing on the role of an organization’s cybersecurity leadership, training frequency, and the role of government frequent alerting. This research employed a quantitative research method. The data were collected through a questionnaire from 310 financial executive officers from selected banks in UAE that use digital technology to enhance their daily banking operations. Using Structural Equation Modelling (SEM), the results indicated (1) a significant association between all investigated independent variables and cybersecurity leadership through hypothesis (H8–H14); (2) cybersecurity leadership mediates the relationship between investigated independent variables and cyberattack prevention, from hypothesis (H15, and H16–H22); (3) no significant association between investigated independent variables and cyberattack prevention from hypothesis (H1–H6), except hypothesis (H4 and H7), which show a significant association. The coefficient of cybersecurity leadership in this study is viewed as a prevention element against cyberattacks based on the findings. With greater cybersecurity leadership success, the implementation of cyberattack prevention increases. This study emphasizes the importance of cybersecurity leadership in a cyberspace environment that protects against cyberattacks and promotes cybersecurity awareness within financial organizations and society in UAE.
first_indexed 2024-03-11T03:59:29Z
format Article
id doaj.art-4e55dcb915834788bf5c123b4c2d4def
institution Directory Open Access Journal
issn 2076-3417
language English
last_indexed 2024-03-11T03:59:29Z
publishDate 2023-05-01
publisher MDPI AG
record_format Article
series Applied Sciences
spelling doaj.art-4e55dcb915834788bf5c123b4c2d4def2023-11-18T00:16:28ZengMDPI AGApplied Sciences2076-34172023-05-011310583910.3390/app13105839Determinants of Cyberattack Prevention in UAE Financial Organizations: Assessing the Mediating Role of Cybersecurity LeadershipNabil Hasan Al-Kumaim0Sultan Khalifa Alshamsi1Faculty of Technology Management and Technopreneurship, Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka (UTeM), Durian Tunggal, Melaka 76100, MalaysiaFaculty of Technology Management and Technopreneurship, Universiti Teknikal Malaysia Melaka (UTeM), Durian Tunggal, Melaka 76100, MalaysiaCyberattack prevention factors have a significant impact on the perception of social and moral values in the business context. Despite leaders’ significant role in encouraging and enculturating cybersecurity practices in their organizations, there is a noticeable gap in the literature to highlight empirically how leaders and top management in organizations foster organizational cybersecurity. Therefore, this study aims to explore the role of cybersecurity leadership in financial organizations in preventing cyberattacks and investigate other human and non-technical factors related to the individual in financial organizations. Based on Protection Motivation Theory (PMT), the research framework was developed with the tallying of new variables focusing on the role of an organization’s cybersecurity leadership, training frequency, and the role of government frequent alerting. This research employed a quantitative research method. The data were collected through a questionnaire from 310 financial executive officers from selected banks in UAE that use digital technology to enhance their daily banking operations. Using Structural Equation Modelling (SEM), the results indicated (1) a significant association between all investigated independent variables and cybersecurity leadership through hypothesis (H8–H14); (2) cybersecurity leadership mediates the relationship between investigated independent variables and cyberattack prevention, from hypothesis (H15, and H16–H22); (3) no significant association between investigated independent variables and cyberattack prevention from hypothesis (H1–H6), except hypothesis (H4 and H7), which show a significant association. The coefficient of cybersecurity leadership in this study is viewed as a prevention element against cyberattacks based on the findings. With greater cybersecurity leadership success, the implementation of cyberattack prevention increases. This study emphasizes the importance of cybersecurity leadership in a cyberspace environment that protects against cyberattacks and promotes cybersecurity awareness within financial organizations and society in UAE.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/13/10/5839cyberattack preventionprotection motivation theorycybersecurity leadershipfrequent traininggovernment frequent alerting
spellingShingle Nabil Hasan Al-Kumaim
Sultan Khalifa Alshamsi
Determinants of Cyberattack Prevention in UAE Financial Organizations: Assessing the Mediating Role of Cybersecurity Leadership
Applied Sciences
cyberattack prevention
protection motivation theory
cybersecurity leadership
frequent training
government frequent alerting
title Determinants of Cyberattack Prevention in UAE Financial Organizations: Assessing the Mediating Role of Cybersecurity Leadership
title_full Determinants of Cyberattack Prevention in UAE Financial Organizations: Assessing the Mediating Role of Cybersecurity Leadership
title_fullStr Determinants of Cyberattack Prevention in UAE Financial Organizations: Assessing the Mediating Role of Cybersecurity Leadership
title_full_unstemmed Determinants of Cyberattack Prevention in UAE Financial Organizations: Assessing the Mediating Role of Cybersecurity Leadership
title_short Determinants of Cyberattack Prevention in UAE Financial Organizations: Assessing the Mediating Role of Cybersecurity Leadership
title_sort determinants of cyberattack prevention in uae financial organizations assessing the mediating role of cybersecurity leadership
topic cyberattack prevention
protection motivation theory
cybersecurity leadership
frequent training
government frequent alerting
url https://www.mdpi.com/2076-3417/13/10/5839
work_keys_str_mv AT nabilhasanalkumaim determinantsofcyberattackpreventioninuaefinancialorganizationsassessingthemediatingroleofcybersecurityleadership
AT sultankhalifaalshamsi determinantsofcyberattackpreventioninuaefinancialorganizationsassessingthemediatingroleofcybersecurityleadership