- Trial lecture starts at 10:15
- Public defence starts at 12:15
Title of trial lecture: TBD
Read the thesis in NVA
Disputation chair: Dean Leif Skiftenes Flak
Assessment committee:
- Associate Professor Obiageli Ogbanufe, University of North Texas
- Professor Joao Baptista, Lancaster University
- Associate Professor Wael Soliman, University of Agder
Supervisors in the doctoral work:
- Professor Marko Niemimaa, IIS, UiA
- Professor Paolo Spagnoletti, IIS, UiA /LUISS, Italy
Summary of thesis
Cybersecurity amid Rapid Digital Transformation
In an increasingly digitalized organizational environment, the rapid pace of digital transformation and the growing pressure of cyberattacks have made cybersecurity a critical challenge for organizations. This thesis explores how organizations face growing cybersecurity risks amid rapid digital transformation. Despite heavy investment in advanced security technologies, cyber threats continue to rise because human factors remain a major cause of successful cyberattacks, with more than 80% of reported attacks attributed to human error. The study, therefore, argues that cybersecurity cannot be managed solely through technology and that human behavior, values, workplace practices, and the broader organizational and cultural dimensions of security are equally important. In this regard, the thesis argues that cybersecurity becomes truly effective only when employees at all levels understand, internalize, and enact their security responsibilities as part of everyday work practices.
The thesis theoretically and empirically examines the cybersecurity challenges posed by rapid digital transformation and offers valuable first-hand insight into cybersecurity culture within a highly regulated financial institution undergoing rapid digital transformation, with particular attention to the temporal dynamics between the pace of digital transformation and the incremental development of cybersecurity culture. It further explores how organizations can manage or bridge this gap to mitigate cyber risk arising from the human dimension. The research also presents cybersecurity culture as dynamic and context-dependent rather than static. Building on this perspective, a central insight throughout the thesis is that the development of cybersecurity culture is inherently temporal: rapid digital transformation accelerates through the rapid introduction of new technologies, whereas cultural adaptation and internalization unfold more slowly through the gradual development of values, practices, and mindsets. As a result, this temporal mismatch creates periods of vulnerability that attackers can exploit and is therefore treated as both a cybersecurity risk and a managerial challenge.
Furthermore, the thesis presents a framework to guide organizations in developing a cybersecurity culture amid rapid digital transformation. In doing so, it provides a contextually relevant and time-sensitive perspective on the development of cybersecurity culture and offers a framework to help organizations manage cultural adaptation during this period of rapid digital transformation.
What to do as an online audience member
The disputation is open to the public. To follow the trial lecture and the public defence online, register on Zoom.
We ask online audience members to join no earlier than 10 minutes in advance. After these times, you can leave and rejoin the meeting at any time.
Opponent ex auditorio:
Deadline for the public to pose questions is during the break between the two opponents. Questions ex auditorio can be submitted to disputation chair, Dean Leif Flak leif.flak@uia.no