Older adults are increasingly a target for cyber‐attacks; however, very little research has investigated how they feel about engaging in protective cyber‐security behaviors. We developed and applied a novel card‐sorting task to elicit how older adults feel about protective cyber‐security behaviors and to identify the factors that impact their confidence in executing these behaviors. Nineteen task‐assisted interviews were conducted with UK older adults. A thematic analysis revealed that older adults see protective online behaviors as important, but their reasons for disengagement fell into three categories: I do not want to (essentially, because the costs outweigh the benefits), I do not need to (e.g. because it is not my responsibility), and I am unable to (which includes heightened anxiety about doing something wrong). Underlying confidence around engagement with protective behaviors was a function of three factors: personal competence (related to good computer self‐efficacy and relevant past experience), support (having a good network for information and advice), and demand (the effort of keeping up to date with the latest advice). Ultimately, we found that older adults are keen to protect themselves but are lacking appropriate support and we discuss implications for developers, researchers, and policy makers. This paper explores older adults' perceptions of common cyber‐security behaviors. We introduce an effective card sorting methodology for security elicitation in older adults. We apply this to identify reasons as to why older adults may not engage in security behaviors as well as identifying a number of reasons why older adults actively avoid engaging in security behaviors.

Retirement is a major life transition, which leads to substantial changes across almost all aspects of day-today life. Although this transition has previously been seen as the normative marker for entry into older adulthood, its influence on later life has remained relatively unstudied in terms of technology use and cybersecurity behaviours. This is problematic as older adults are at particular risk of becoming victims of cyber-crime. This study aimed to investigate which factors associated with the retirement transition were likely to increase vulnerability to cyber-attack in a sample of 12 United Kingdom based older adults, all of whom had retired within the past 5 years. Semi-structured, one to one interviews were conducted and subsequently analysed using thematic analysis. Six themes were identified referring to areas of loss in: social interaction, finances, day-today routine, feelings of competence, sense of purpose, and technology support structures. We discuss the implications of these losses for building cyber-resilience in retirees, with suggestions for future research.

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IntroductionThe digital response to the Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and its effects on the lives of older adults has been well-documented, but less is known about how they experienced the post-lockdown re-emergence into a relatively contactless digital society.MethodsWe report the findings from a qualitative survey (n = 93) and subsequent interviews (n = 9) with older adults aged 50+, where they describe their struggles with some of the newly implemented digital interactions. These struggles cover a range of settings but include using contactless payments, QR codes and apps to facilitate transactions in cafes, bars, and restaurants.ResultsA thematic analysis of our data revealed the intrinsic (e.g. digital literacy) and extrinsic (e.g. malfunctioning technology) factors that limited social inclusion for these participants, and that sometimes even led to moments of public humiliation.DiscussionOur findings shed light on some of the motivational factors that underpin the age-related digital divide, whilst also highlighting the role of self-directed agism in limiting motivations to learn new digital routines.

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