Effects of Demographic Factors on Phishing Victimization in the Workplace

Authors

Zhihui Liu, University of North Carolina at CharlotteFollow
Lina Zhou, University of North Carolina at CharlotteFollow
Dongsong Zhang, University of North Carolina at CharlotteFollow

Abstract

The widespread threat of phishing emails poses significant economic and social challenges. Existing research mainly focuses on developing methods for automated detection of phishing emails. Few studies have explored the influence of demographic factors of phishing targets on phishing victimization, particularly in the workplace. To fill the gap, we systematically investigate the effects of demographic factors, such as gender, age, education level, and technical experience, on phishing victimization in the workplace. The study leverages a dataset collected from a phishing simulation and education project. The results of data analyses reveal the significant effects of gender and technical experience on phishing victimization and interesting interaction effects between education and technical experience for the first time. The findings of this study can not only help improve the effectiveness of anti-phishing training, but also shed light on the mixed findings about the effect of gender and age in the literature.

Recommended Citation

Liu, Zhihui; Zhou, Lina; and Zhang, Dongsong, "Effects of Demographic Factors on Phishing Victimization in the Workplace" (2020). PACIS 2020 Proceedings. 75.
https://aisel.aisnet.org/pacis2020/75