Congratulations to Dr. Constancio Paranal III on successfully defending his dissertation, “Cybersecurity Readiness in Immigrant and Limited English Proficiency Micro Businesses in Hawai‘i: A Sociotechnical and Community-Centered Approach,” via Zoom on August 5. The CIS community is so proud of Constancio and his hard work.
Title: “Cybersecurity Readiness in Immigrant and Limited English Proficiency Micro Businesses in Hawai‘i: A Sociotechnical and Community-Centered Approach”
Abstract: Immigrant-owned and limited English proficiency (LEP) microbusinesses are vital to Hawaiʻi’s economy but remain underserved by cybersecurity research and support systems that assume English proficiency, technical literacy, and formal business structures. This dissertation examines the cybersecurity risks, barriers, and support experiences of digitally dependent microbusinesses on Oʻahu through the lenses of Sociotechnical Systems Theory and Community Resilience Theory. Using a qualitatively dominant, sequential mixed-methods case study, the research integrates 40 microbusiness profiles, community roundtables, semi-structured interviews, observations, and document analysis. Three composite indices (Digital Dependency, Security Practice, and Digital Literacy) along with the ETHICS framework and a Resilience Activation Framework, are used to assess vulnerability and identify pathways for intervention.
The findings reveal that cybersecurity is experienced as a social and structural issue rather than solely a technical one. Language barriers, cultural trust networks, institutional misalignment, platform power imbalances, emotional labor, and Indigenous data sovereignty all shape cybersecurity readiness and resilience. Statistical comparisons between high- and low-resilience groups reinforce these patterns, highlighting the importance of community trust among the most excluded participants. In response, the dissertation proposes a four-component Community-Informed Model centered on community voice, culturally trusted networks, dignity-centered education, and structural advocacy. The study advances sociotechnical and community resilience theory while reframing cybersecurity readiness as an issue of equity, inclusion, and community capacity rather than individual responsibility.
Committee:
Dr. Scott Robertson (ICS), Chair
Dr. Rich Gazan (ICS/LIS)
Dr. Min-Sun Kim (COMG)
Dr. Colin Moore (PACE)
Dr. Jerome Agrusa (TIM), University Representative