Spillover of Information Security Incidents’ Impact: The Moderating Role of Social Networks and IT

The objective of this study is to examine the contagion effect of a major security incident. We argue that the impact of security incidents is not limited to a single firm, but that it spills over to other firms in an industry. We theorize that firms that are similar to the breached firm in terms of the characteristics of top managers, and those with economic link ties to the breached firm, are likely to experience a stronger contagion effect.