A correlational study of leadership styles and employees' behavior toward information security and awareness

Information security is intended to protect data from unauthorized access, use, or modification. The purpose of this quantitative correlational study was to understand the relationship between leadership styles and employees' behavior with regard to improving information security and awareness levels. The goal of this quantitative correlational study was to investigate and explore the effect that leadership styles have on employees' behavior in relation to minimizing security risks. Minimizing risks of system failures requires leaders to plan adequately for unexpected events from a security attack. Understanding how leadership styles can influence employees' behavior will assist in developing a successful information and security awareness program. Leaders at all levels can create a diverse culture through their actions and attitudes, which keeps employees motivated to reach greater results in information security and awareness. The results of the Pearson's correlation indicated a relationship exists between transformational leadership style and employees' behavior toward information security and awareness (r = .795, n= 102, p <.001). The findings of this study revealed emerging technologies require a commitment to establish successful information security and awareness programs for an organization's survivability to protect information and prevent security breaches. The results of this study recommended leaders to provide information security and awareness training, which offered a viable solution for stimulating the understanding of data protection. In conclusion, this study provided best practices to business owners and leaders responsible for mitigating security threats and eliminating security vulnerabilities to cybercrimes through education within organizations.