Author Identifier (ORCID)
Helge Janicke: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1345-2829
Abstract
Cybersecurity governance is increasingly critical in a digital economy, with board directors playing a central role in shaping organisational resilience. Directors are pivotal in setting cybersecurity strategies and carrying fiduciary obligations that extend to digital risk oversight. This study examines the cybersecurity literacy and governance practices of Australian board directors through a qualitative interview study with 13 participants. Findings reveal a substantial gap in directors' knowledge and confidence, undermining effective oversight and informed decision-making. This deficit limits their ability to interrogate risk reports, challenge assumptions, and steer investment in line with organisational resilience goals. In response, we propose a Board Cyber Governance Model that integrates targeted education, strategic interventions, and structured board-CISO engagement to improve governance capability. By situating cyber governance at the intersection of executive decision-making, risk perception, and digital security, this work contributes to human-computer interaction by highlighting socio-organisational challenges and offering actionable insights for stronger board-level engagement.
Keywords
board of directors, cyber literacy, cybersecurity governance, decision-making, organisational resilience, risk management
Document Type
Conference Proceeding
Date of Publication
4-13-2026
Publication Title
CHI '26: Proceedings of the 2026 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing System
Publisher
Association for Computing Machinery
School
ECU Security Research Institute
Funding Information
The work has been supported by the Cyber Security Research Centre Limited whose activities are partially funded by the Australian Government’s Cooperative Research Centres Program.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Comments
Aamir, T., Psaroulis, G., Grobler, M., & Janicke, H. (2026). From oversight to insight: Transforming cybersecurity governance in boardrooms. In Proceedings of the 2026 CHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems (pp. 1–22). Association for Computing Machinery. https://doi.org/10.1145/3772318.3791142