Trustworthiness attribution: Inquiry into insider threat detection

Abstract

Insider threat is a “wicked” contemporary organizational problem. It poses significant threats to organizational operations and information security. This article reviews insider threat research and outlines key propositions to conceptualize the interpretation of dynamic human information behavior in an organizational setting, which represent an integration of trustworthiness and human sensors’ attribution in close relationships. These propositions posit that when a focal individual violates integrity‐based trust, the group can collectively attribute a shift in trustworthiness, triggering a natural peer attribution process that assigns cause to observed behavior. Group communication can thus reflect subtle changes in a focal individual's perceived trustworthiness. The ability to understand group‐based computer‐mediated communication patterns over time may become essential in safeguarding information assets and the “digital well‐being” of today's organizations. This article contributes a novel theoretical lens to examine dynamic insights on insider threat detection.

Leader Member Exchange: An Interactive Framework to Uncover a Deceptive Insider as Revealed by Human Sensors

“…Wheelan [77] also confirmed that groups containing 3 to 6 members were significantly more productive and developmental than larger groups. The present study thus suggests designing experiments to facilitate small group situations where members are given opportunities to interact closely [41], which also follows the proposition postulated by Ho, Kaarst-Brown et al [42] that "close relationships" are required to afford groups the opportunities to unknowingly observe subtle language-action cues that may indicate a lowering of trustworthiness (p. 276).…”

“…One's trust towards an individual can be impacted (i.e., reduced or lost) as a result of the violation of competence in the performance of obligations, or the violation of integrity [42]. Competence-based trust violations occur when group members feel betrayed because a member does not fulfill obligations or expectations.…”

“…This breach of trust occurs as a result of "incongruence" [57] arising from a violation against the reciprocal exchanged agreements (often referred to as a "psychological contract") by and among group members [63,66]. Integrity-based trust violations, on the other hand, occur when a member behaves against the interests of the group in an illegal or unethical manner [36,40,42]. This violation of integrity-based trust, often triggered by a leader's ethical dilemma, constitutes an act of deception [40].…”

“…Inaccurate observations generate false positive alarms, and create a low trust atmosphere in the workplace. Third, although an insider refers to anyone in the organization, the present study specifically defines that an insider could be any individual with authorized access to information, that once betrayed, could inflict significant damage (e.g., reputational, or financial loss) against his or her own organization [42]. In this study, the term "leader" is metaphorically adopted to refer to those individuals who control critical information resources and whose access to certain essential information is granted.…”

“…To answer this question, leader-member exchange (LMX) and deception literature are reviewed and discussed. Ho, Kaarst-Brown et al [42] boldly postulated that "humans as smart sensors can understand and interpret subtle communication signals associated with reduced trustworthiness" (p. 276). Based on this proposition, the present study framework further develops the rationale for observing patterns of language-action cues in a virtual group's interactive communication behavior that can collectively "react" and change after a leader has taken covert actions to deceive.…”