Do Information Security Policies Reduce the Incidence of Security Breaches

TLDR

Information is a critical corporate asset increasingly vulnerable to attacks, prompting organizations to prioritize security to preserve accuracy, confidentiality, and availability, yet empirical evidence on the effectiveness of information security policies remains scarce. The study investigates the relationship between the uptake and application of information security policies and the levels of security breaches. A validated questionnaire was administered to IT managers in large UK organizations to assess policy adoption and breach incidence. The study found no statistically significant relationship between policy adoption and the incidence or severity of security breaches, prompting discussion of possible explanations and implications for practice.

Abstract

Information is a critical corporate asset that has become increasingly vulnerable to attacks from viruses, hackers, criminals, and human error. Consequently, organizations are having to prioritize the security of their computer systems in order to ensure that their information assets retain their accuracy, confidentiality, and availability. While the importance of the information security policy (InSPy) in ensuring the security of information is acknowledged widely, to date there has been little empirical analysis of its impact or effectiveness in this role. To help fill this gap, an exploratory study was initiated that sought to investigate the relationship between the uptake and application of information security policies and the accompanying levels of security breaches. To this end, a questionnaire was designed, validated, and then targeted at IT managers within large organizations in the UK. The findings presented in this paper are somewhat surprising, as they show no statistically significant relationships between the adoption of information security policies and the incidence or severity of security breaches. The paper concludes by exploring the possible interpretations of this unexpected finding and its implications for the practice of information security management.