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Opponent Associate Professor Jongwoo (Jonathan) Kim (University of Massachusetts Boston) and Custos Professor Mikko Siponen (Ä¢¹½Ö±²¥). The doctoral dissertation is held in English.

The audience can follow the dissertation online.
Link to the Zoom Webinar event (Zoom application or Google Chrome web browser recommended):

Phone number to which the audience can present possible additional questions at the end of the event (to the custos): +358 50 5588128

Lack of attention to information security could have harmful consequences for the welfare of oneself and that of others. For example, a smartphone user who leaves their phone unlocked and unattended in a public place not only endanger their own information —in the form of photos, videos, and sensitive personal or professional information— but also the information of their friends, colleagues and acquaintances stored on their device. Therefore, risks emanating from lack of attention to information security could carry moral concerns. Users, however, may not understand these moral concerns, as information security risks arise in the context of IT use.

In his dissertation, Hojat Mohammadnazar examines whether IT and IT use could make it difficult for users to understand and perceive the moral implications of their information security decisions. He observes that users’ perception of IT and their emotional engagement in a given dilemma may shape their understanding of the moral concerns in information security. Such an understanding, however, may be bound to reflection for about three to five minutes.

The outcome of Mohammadnazar’s research encourages users to avoid making information security decisions hastily and to actively reflect on those who a given course of action might harm for at least three to five minutes. On the other hand, employers are encouraged to challenge strongly held perceptions of IT among users and raise users’ sense of empathy for others who may be affected. For instance, employers could underline the complexities of computer code and the possibilities that running someone else’s code on a limited-access server could bring about an information security breach that jeopardizes their friends and colleagues.

Hojat Mohammadnazar has a background in software engineering and information systems. In 2016, he started his doctoral education at the Faculty of Information Technology, Ä¢¹½Ö±²¥, Finland. He is interested in studying user behaviors in interaction with IT artifacts. His current research interests are information security management and moral concerns therein, computer ethics and software development.