Iowa State University Capstones, Theses and Retrospective Theses and Dissertations Dissertations 1-1-2006 It came from the Internet : media diffusion of computer security threats Adam Paul Patridge Iowa State University Follow this and additional works at: https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/rtd Recommended Citation Patridge, Adam Paul, "It came from the Internet : media diffusion of computer security threats" (2006). Retrospective Theses and Dissertations. 19035. https://lib.dr.iastate.edu/rtd/19035 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Iowa State University Capstones, Theses and Dissertations at Iowa State University Digital Repository. It has been accepted for inclusion in Retrospective Theses and Dissertations by an authorized administrator of Iowa State University Digital Repository. For more information, please contact
[email protected]. It came from the Internet: Media diffusion of computer security threats by Adam Paul Patridge A thesis submitted to the graduate faculty in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF SCIENCE Major: Human Computer Interaction Program of Study Committee: Chad Harms, Major Professor Kim Smith Anthony Townsend Iowa State University Ames, Iowa 2006 Copyright ©Adam Paul Patridge, 2006. All rights reserved. 11 Graduate College Iowa State University This is to certify that the master's thesis of Adam Paul Patridge has met the thesis requirements of Iowa State University Signatures have been redacted for privacy 111 TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION 1 CHAPTER 2. LITERATURE REVIEW 4 COMPUTER SECURITY 4 Computer Security Threats 4 Lifespan of a Threat 6 DIFFUSION OF INNOVATION 7 History of Diffusion Research 8 Innovation Adoption Process 10 Diffusion of Innovation Components 12 Diffusion Criticisms 18 RESEARCH QUESTIONS 19 CHAPTER 3.