Using trust and anonymity to expand the use of anonymizing systems that improve security across organizations

To mitigate risks inherent in sharing sensitive cyber-security information, recent research has examined anonymizing systems (ANS) that hide the identities of participants and decouple data from their originators. ANS are particularly compelling as a potential support to cyber-security information sharing because the cost of implementation is relatively low, and the more organizations and nations that participate, the more everyone benefits. Although such systems are promising to both developing and mature cyber-infrastructures, they still have not been widely adopted for use in sharing cyber-security information. Relatively little prior research has investigated the perception and adoption of these systems, despite their potential value for organizations and nations in supporting the battle against cyber-crime. Given these opportunities, this study tries to better understand the factors that foster adoption of ANS. Accordingly, we present a theoretical model intended to explain the trust process involved in user adoption of ANS. We theorize that users’ beliefs regarding trust in the information provided by the system and the risks associated with using the system, as well as beliefs in the system’s anonymizing capability, will lead to greater levels of adoption. Further, perceptions of system quality are theorized to contribute to user trusting beliefs. The results of a free-simulation experiment largely validate the proposed model. These results should help inform the next generation of ANS development and deployment.