Stress implications of compliance with information security policies

Abstract

It is paramount to underscore the importance of a robust information security policy within an organizational framework, even though the attainment of absolute information security remains a challenging endeavor. Extensive scholarly research has illuminated that employees' adherence to an information security policy can lead to heightened stress levels, subsequently exerting a detrimental impact on their overall productivity. The present research undertakes an in-depth investigation into the determinants of heightened employee stress levels in the context of information security compliance, with a specific focus on distinguishing between managerial security compliance activities and their technical counterparts. This study has meticulously identified information security overload and breaches of privacy as primary factors that induce elevated stress levels among employees. Notably, it has been observed that managerial security compliance activities are more susceptible to the influence of security overload, while technical security compliance activities tend to generate greater stress through privacy invasion.