Information security culture as an enabler: addressing the gap between organisational knowledge sharing and information security

Abstract

Knowledge sharing is a vital business strategy that creates value for an organisation. It also leads to accidental or deliberate loss of information and knowledge. With an ideal culture, the knowledge sharing barrier can be broken without leaking information. We gathered data from the literature on the benefits of knowledge sharing in organisations and the related risks, addressing the role of a positive organisational culture. We interviewed information security specialists in small and large organisations in Melbourne and overseas. The study confirms the findings from literature that organisations value knowledge sharing to gain a competitive advantage. They also revealed that the preventive measures of knowledge leakage usually involved fostering a sharing culture with strategy, policies and controls in place with regular training and awareness. Based on these observations, we propose the need for future research on organisations that have fostered a culture of sharing knowledge without compromising its security.