Modeling Intention to Use Deep Packet Inspection Technology in the United Arab Emirates

Abstract

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is a prosperous country struggling with the threat of cybercrime. Deep packet inspection (DPI) technology offered an enterprise-level solution to the cybercrime problem, enhancing firewalls and threat detection capabilities. Controversy surrounded DPI because it infringed upon privacy rights and was not fully effective. Investigation of the literature revealed minimal research about perceptions that drove intention to use DPI technology in Arab countries, and absence of a systems-based, theoretical framework explaining DPI's acceptance, by UAE society. A questionnaire study of six variables using randomly sampled data of n = 443, was collected from 18-to25-year-old Emirati national college students, at the Higher Colleges of Technology—graduates targeted by UAE law, for employment in the finance and telecommunications sectors—industries likely to use DPI. Quasi-experimentally tested data, using the maximum likelihood estimator—robust to non-normality, using confirmatory factor analysis, suggested an acceptable goodness-of-fit into the deep packet acceptance model (DPAM). Cronbach's α was > .80 for all constructs. Individual factor loadings ranged from .621 to .885, while construct averages were .792 for computer self-efficacy (CSE), .707 for attitudes toward information and communications technology (ATICT), .770 for perceived usefulness of e-commerce (PUEC), .800 for intention to use e-commerce (IUEC), .781 for societal trust (ST), and .711 for Internet filtration (IF). The goodness-of-fit values obtained were; Normed Chi-Square, (χ²/df ) = 2.602, Comparative fit index, (CFI) = 0.918, Tucker-Lewis Index, (TLI) = 0.905, and Root mean square error of approximation, (RMSEA) = 0.060. Significant positive correlation existed between CSE, ATICT, PUEC, and IUEC—highest being CSE and ATICT at r = 0.537 and a significant negative correlation between PUEC and IF (r = -0.137). Societal trust and CSE, CSE and IF, and IF and ST, were not significantly correlated. Stakeholders now have a greater understanding of network security market needs and intention to use DPI in the UAE, motivated by DPAM. Recommendations are extension of the model to the network-security practitioner community; exploration of the role of inter-firm alliance processes, in fighting cybercrime; identification of superior network-security business models; and recognition of culture as a limitation of the study.