Date of Conferral

2020

Degree

Ph.D.

School

Management

Advisor

Robert Haussmann

Abstract

AbstractDenial-of-service/distributed denial-of-service (DoS) attacks on network connectivity are a threat to businesses that academics and professionals have attempted to address through cyber-security practices. However, currently there are no metrics to determine how attackers target certain businesses. The purpose of this quantitative study was to address this problem by, first, determining differences among business sectors in rates and duration of attacks and financial damages from attacks and, second, examining relationship among assets and/or revenues and duration of attacks and financial damages. Cohen and Felson's routine activity theory and Cornish and Clarke's rational choice theory served as frameworks as they address the motivations and choices within criminal targeted attacks. Using the Kruskal-Wallis test and Spearman's correlation analysis, data, compiled from online database, on 100 U.S. businesses that were attacked in a 19-year period were analyzed. Kruskal-Wallis test indicated financial and informational sectors had higher attack rates; educational and informational sectors experienced longer attacks; and retail and informational sectors suffered greater financial damages. Results of Spearman's correlation showed that there was a significant negative relationship between duration and assets across all sectors but a significant positive relationship between duration and assets within the financial sector. A key recommendation is for cyber security professionals to better understand DoS attacks and to develop protections targeted business sectors. The implications of positive social change include the potential for security professionals to improve their security defenses from targeted attacks and trigger scholars to further research using the issues presented in the study.

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