Randall J. Boyle

Distributed Deception: An Investigation of the Effectiveness of Deceptive Communication in a Computer-Mediated Environment

This research examines the impact of computer-mediated communication, distributed communication, and knowledge of prior baseline behavior on an individual’s propensity to make veracity judgments. This study found that more detection confidence can come from knowledge of a person’s prior baseline behavior, being proximally located, the type of communication media used, and perceived relational closeness. These factors indirectly lead to less deception detection through more detection confidence and reliance on the truth bias, a fundamental belief in the truthfulness of others, even in a compute- mediated environment.

Man vs. machine

Deception is an inevitable component of human interaction. Researchers and practitioners are developing information systems to aid in the detection of deceptive communication. Information systems are typically adopted by end users to aid in completing a goal or objective (e.g., increasing the efficiency of a business process). However, end-user interactions with deception detection systems (adversarial systems) are unique because the goals of the system and the user are orthogonal. Prior work investigating systems-based deception detection has focused on the identification of reliable deception indicators. This research extends extant work by looking at how users of deception detection systems alter their behavior in response to the presence of guilty knowledge, relevant stimuli, and system knowledge. An analysis of data collected during two laboratory experiments reveals that guilty knowledge, relevant stimuli, and system knowledge all lead to increased use of countermeasures. The implications and limitations of this research are discussed and avenues for future research are outlined. We present adversarial systems as a novel/growing area of IS research.Knowledge of a deception systems operations increases countermeasure use.Presenting deceivers with relevant stimuli increases countermeasure use.Truth tellers use countermeasures when aware of the systems functionality.An extensive set of novel countermeasures is identified.

Mitigating Threats to Collaboration and CMC: Identifying Antecedents of Online Deviance

Technology is a catalyst for communication and collaboration, and the use of information systems for these applications is prevalent. While there are countless benefits associated with communication and collaboration tools, detriments do exist. One pitfall is the prevalence of deviant behaviors online which can jeopardize the effectiveness of these tools. This paper presents the results of a study designed to investigate antecedents of online deviant behavior. The results indicate that impulsiveness, moral relativity, the perception of harm to others, and guilt influence the propensity for computer users to commit deviant acts. The implications and limitations of this work, as well as directions for future research, are discussed.

Compulsive technology use: Compulsive use of mobile applications

Abstract Information technology engages users beyond traditional organizational contexts. Technology has become more interconnected and personalized. As individuals are increasingly exposed to the types of triggers that prompt automatic technology engagement. Technology use has moved beyond the bounds of intentionality. This leads to the development of technology-use behaviors that may become automatic or difficult to control. Individuals can begin to develop spontaneous-use behaviors and feel compelled to interact with the systems they use. This study explores this phenomenon in the context of mobile applications, and conceptualizes this new type of system interaction as compulsive technology use. A theoretical framework of automatic behaviors is used to identify key technological mechanisms of behavioral initiation and psychological mechanisms of behavioral persistence, which contribute to compulsive technology use. The roles of technology habit and perception of sunk costs in the development of compulsive technology use are addressed. Characteristics and features of technology that influence compulsive technology use are identified.

Valuing Information Security: A Look at the Influence of User Engagement on Information Security Strength

ABSTRACT This study looks at the influence of user engagement on users’ information security practices. A model describing how user engagement (user posts) may influence a person’s decision to employ better security measures (stronger passwords) is tested. Password strength was determined by looking at password length, the types of characters used, the variety of character sequences used, the number of duplicate passwords, and the number of uncrackable passwords. Passwords were tested using a variety of cracking techniques. This study found that individuals from an online gaming site who made more posts to the user forum employed stronger passwords.

When Deceitful Chats Look Truthful

ABSTRACT The amount of deception taking place via electronic text-based communication is increasing. Research has sought to automatically detect deception by analyzing the text from the communicator. However, the deceptive intent of the communication partner is being ignored. We compare the text from subjects who are trying to deceive each other, subjects trying to deceive truth tellers, subjects telling the truth to truth tellers, and subjects telling the truth to deceivers. We hypothesize that despite the intent of the partner, deceitful text will cluster closest to deceitful text. We cluster each of the four conditions using the text content. The cluster algorithm placed subjects trying to deceive each other closest to subjects telling the truth to each other. In this analysis, the language that led subjects to choose the same outcomes had a stronger effect than the language tied to being deceitful or truthful.