Confidently Unsecure: The Role of Preventative Measures to Shoulder Surfing on Public Wi-Fi

• In Event: Online and Offline Criminogenic Factors that shape Computer User’s Susceptibility to Cybercrime Victimization

Abstract

The study of cybercrime is often divided across physical and cyber risks to victimization at both the network and individual levels. While this division is often necessary due to practical limitations, the present article seeks to begin to bridge this gap by considering risk mitigation in the context of shoulder surfing and Public Wi-Fi networks. This behavior is examined using a unique new source of quantitative observational data and supplemented by surveys conducted at large public universities in the United States and Israel. Utilizing a series of logistic regression models in all three datasets, exposure to potential victimization - operationalized as accessing banking and email websites via unsecured Public Wi-Fi networks is found to be more common when individuals have taken preventative measures for typical shoulder surfing risks. Policy and practical implications for the study of cybercrime and risk are addressed.

Authors

• Michael H. Becker, University of Maryland

• David Maimon, University of Maryland

• Megan Smith, University of Maryland