Extracting key factors of cyber hygiene behaviour among software engineers: a systematic literature review

The advent of new technologies and the rapid growth of internet users have given birth to the menace of cyber-crime. Unfortunately, it is increasing at an alarming pace. This situation calls for good cyber hygiene behavior to secure digital lives. Cyber hygiene behaviour holds a significant role in terms of cybersecurity across the globe. There is a dire need to understand better the user variations associated with good or bad cyber hygiene behaviour and an improved view of what users do to encourage good cyber hygiene. Cybersecurity attacks are rising due to recent advancements in ICT and the Industrial Revolution 4.0 (IR 4.0). Software development organizations are among the crucial sectors suffering from cybersecurity issues. These organizations are more vulnerable to cyber-attacks because they lack proper cybersecurity culture. Although many initiatives have been taken by academia and industry to address this rising issue, the problem still exists for Software development organizations because good cyber hygiene behaviour is not observed, which is a prerequisite to reduce cyber threats. This study performed a Systematic Literature Review (SLR) of research papers published during 2010 – 2020. The key factors influencing software engineers’ cyber hygiene behaviour intention are extracted from the published literature. The study examined 35 research papers out of 5,270 found from IEEE Xplore, Emerald Insight, SpringerLink, and ScienceDirect databases. The study reviewed number of factors such as the role of personal, social, socio-cognitive, environmental, & technological factors that may individually or collectively influence software engineers’ cyber hygiene behaviour. The positive and negative factors associated with the cyber hygiene behaviour of software engineers are also categorized. This study enriches the understanding of the potential factors related to software engineers’ cyber hygiene behaviours. It provides valuable insights to researchers, software development organizations, governments, and individuals associated with the field of Software Engineering. This research will assist in changing the software engineers’ behaviour towards cyber hygiene, which will ultimately lead to mitigate the issues of Cybersecurity.