Communal Antecedents in the Adoption of Secure Coding Methodologies

Abstract

Technology acceptance model has demonstrated that technology adoption behavior can be explained by two user belief constructs: perceived usefulness and perceived ease of use. A number of studies have explored how these beliefs develop by utilizing primarily individual-level antecedents. However, because innovation and new techniques bear a direct relation to social concerns, non-individual antecedents may be necessary. Therefore, in this study, social and organizational supports are used to understand how software developers foster beliefs regarding secure coding practices. We compiled data from 83 software developers to evaluate the technology acceptance model. Our findings show that these collective antecedents can effectively explain user belief constructs and the intention to adopt secure coding methodologies. These findings imply that society and organizations offering more concrete support programs will experience smoother deployment of security-enhancing measures.