IT security service provides customers with the capability of protecting the networked information asset and infrastructures, and the scope of security service is expanding from a technology-intensive task to a comprehensive protection system for IT environment. To improve the quality of this service, a research model which help assess the quality is required. Several research models have been proposed and used in various service areas, but few cases are found for IT security service. In this work, a research model for the IT security quality has been proposed, based on research models such as SERVQUAL and E-S-QUAL. With the proposed model, factors which affect the service quality and the best quality measure have been identified. And the feasibility of using quantitative measures for quality has been examined. For analysis, structural equation modeling and various statistical methods such as principal component analysis were used. The result shows that satisfaction is the most significant measure affected by the proposed quality factors. Two quality factors, fulfillment and empathy, are the main determinants of the service quality. This leads to a strategy of quality improvement based on factors of emotion and perception, not of technology. The quantitative measures are considered as promising alternative measures, when combined with other measures. In order to design reliable quantitative measures, more work should be done on target processing time and users’ expectation. It is hoped that work of this research will provide efficient tools and methods to improve the quality of IT security service and help future research works for other IT service areas.

IT security service protects their networked information asset and infrastructures using experts’ knowledge. To improve its service quality, by exploring quality factors and assessing the quality level, an approach based on a research model is required. Several research models have been proposed and used in various service area, but few cases of IT security service are found. In this work, a research model of service quality has been proposed, based on the existing research models such as SERVQUAL and E-S-QUAL. The factors which affect the quality of IT security service and the best quality measure including quantitative measures have been identified. By comparing them, the feasibility of using quantitative measures for quality measures has been addressed. For analysis, structural equation modeling and various statistical methods were used. The result shows that, among the three quality measures, satisfaction is the most significantly affected one by quality factors. The quantitative measures show positive correlation with other perceived quality measures. The analysis of the result provides several suggestions which can be used in measuring and improving the quality of IT security service. Emotional factors such as empathy are as important as the swiftness of service, which leads to a strategy of quality improvement based on customer satisfaction, not solely on technology only. And, in order to design reliable quantitative measures, standards such as rational target processing time should be first established. The work of this research will provide efficient tools to improve the quality of IT security service and help the quality research for other service areas.