Employees' cybersecurity awareness and risk management practices at a legal parastatal organisation in South Africa: a hierarchical multiple regression analysis

Organisations that increasingly rely on information technology and the internet face the potential risk of cyber-attacks. A thorough assessment of their employees' awareness of cyber security in order to establish the cybersecurity measures that are consistent with the evolving corporate experience is of paramount importance. Based on the responses from 550 employees of a legal parastatal organisation in South Africa, we employ a hierarchical multiple regression to analyse the contribution of employees' cybersecurity awareness on risk management practices. We found that the addition of organisational support on cyber security awareness improves the prediction of risk management practices over and above general security practices, employee cyber security practices, and cybercrime awareness. We argue that organisations can improve risk management systems and practices by promoting cybersecurity awareness through relevant strategies such as the development and implementation of cybersecurity awareness policies and procedures, as well as the training and development of personnel in risk management.