Högskolan i Skövde

Cybersecurity is a socio-technical discipline which is dependent on the interplay between users and devices, and the organizations where this interplay takes place. Previous research has shown that the interplay between users and devices is highly affected by the cognitive abilities of users. This is prominent in cybersecurity, which requires users to make security-aware decisions when, for instance, reading emails and decide which emails are legitimate and which emails constitute phishing. Research further suggests that decision-making is dependent on memory ability, which is the focus of this research. In this study, we investigate the impact of short-term memory on phishing detection ability and password behaviour. A web survey was used to collect quantitative data from a large sample of respondents. The survey was distributed on social media platforms and 93 participants completed the survey. The results indicate a positive correlation between short-term memory scores and both password detection ability and password behavior.