“Security by Obscurity”: Journalists’ Mental Models of Information Security

Despite wide-ranging threats and tangible risks, journalists have not done much to change their information or communications security practices in recent years. Through in-depth interviews, we provide insight into how journalists conceptualize security risk. By applying a mental models framework, we identify a model of “security by obscurity”—one that persists across participants despite varying levels of investigative experience, information security expertise and job responsibilities. We find that the prevalence of this model is attributable at least in part to poor understandings of technological communication systems, and recommend future research directions in developing educational materials focused on these concepts.