TY - JOUR
T1 - The Enabling Role of Internal Organizational Communication in Insider Threat Activity – Evidence from a High Security Organization
AU - Rice, Charis
AU - Searle, Rosalind
N1 - This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) which permits any use, reproduction and distribution of the work without further permission provided the original work is attributed as specified on the SAGE and Open Access page (https://us.sagepub.com/en-us/nam/open-access-at-sage).
PY - 2022/8
Y1 - 2022/8
N2 - This paper explores the role of internal communication in one under-researched form of organizational crisis, insider threat – threat to an organization, its people or resources, from those who have legitimate access. In this case study, we examine a high security organization, drawing from in-depth interviews with management and employees concerning the organizational context and a real-life incident of insider threat. We identify the importance of three communication flows (top-down, bottom-up, and lateral) in explaining, and in this case, enabling, insider threat. Derived from this analysis, we draw implications for communication and security scholars, as well as practitioners, concerning: the impact of unintentional communication, the consequences of selective silence and the divergence in levels of shared understanding of security among different groups within an organization.
AB - This paper explores the role of internal communication in one under-researched form of organizational crisis, insider threat – threat to an organization, its people or resources, from those who have legitimate access. In this case study, we examine a high security organization, drawing from in-depth interviews with management and employees concerning the organizational context and a real-life incident of insider threat. We identify the importance of three communication flows (top-down, bottom-up, and lateral) in explaining, and in this case, enabling, insider threat. Derived from this analysis, we draw implications for communication and security scholars, as well as practitioners, concerning: the impact of unintentional communication, the consequences of selective silence and the divergence in levels of shared understanding of security among different groups within an organization.
KW - crisis and risk management
KW - employee misconduct
KW - interpretive case study
KW - organizational communication
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85122867392&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1177/08933189211062250
DO - 10.1177/08933189211062250
M3 - Article
VL - 36
SP - 467
EP - 495
JO - Management Communication Quarterly
JF - Management Communication Quarterly
IS - 3
ER -