Open AccessReal or bogus: Predicting susceptibility to phishing with economic experiments
Author(s) -
Yan Chen,
Iman YeckehZaare,
Ark Fangzhou Zhang
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
plos one
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.99
H-Index - 332
ISSN - 1932-6203
DOI - 10.1371/journal.pone.0198213
Subject(s) - phishing , commit , curiosity , vulnerability (computing) , replicate , psychology , field (mathematics) , internet privacy , computer science , computer security , social psychology , the internet , world wide web , statistics , mathematics , database , pure mathematics
We present a lab-in-the-field experiment to demonstrate how individual behavior in the lab predicts their ability to identify phishing attempts. Using the business and finance staff members from a large public university in the U.S., we find that participants who are intolerant of risk, more curious, and less trusting commit significantly more errors when evaluating interfaces. We also replicate prior results on demographic correlates of phishing vulnerability, including age, gender, and education level. Our results suggest that behavioral characteristics such as intolerance of risk, curiosity, and trust can be used to predict individual ability to identify phishing interfaces.