Information Security Policy Compliance Culture: Examining the Effects of Accountability Measures

Information security policy (ISP) noncompliance is a growing problem that accounts for a significant number of security breaches in organizations. Existing strategies for changing employees' behavior intentions towards compliance have not been effective. It is therefore imperative to identify other effective strategies to address the problem. This article investigates the effect accountability constructs on employees' attitudes and behavior intentions towards establishing ISP compliance as a culture. In addition, the authors validate a testable research model for predicting employees' compliance behavior intentions in a field survey involving 313 employees from selected Ghanaian companies. The overall effect showed that measures of accountability significantly influenced employees' attitudes and behavior intentions to ISP compliance while the establishment of ISP compliance culture largely depended on the existence of a conducive information security culture and positive employee behavior intentions.