A survey of cyber-security awareness in Saudi Arabia

Abstract

Rapid development has been observed in the deployment of communication technologies and the use of the Internet across the globe. Information exchange is the main aspect of use of such technologies in everyday life. Crimes associated with the misuse of information on the Internet are on the increase and are resulting in various losses. Saudi Arabia is one of the fastest developing countries in the Middle East, where the uptake of communication technologies such as the Internet and mobile technologies has risen sharply in recent years. These technologies are relatively new to the region when compared to developed countries. Therefore, the crimes associated with these technologies may be new to the people in the region. This paper investigates the cyber security awareness of the people in Saudi Arabia within different contexts. A quantitative online based survey was conducted to gather information related to cyber security awareness in Saudi Arabia. The study found that, although the participants had a good knowledge of IT, their awareness of the threats associated with cybercrime, cyber security practices, and the role of government and organisations in ensuring information safety across the Internet, is very limited. An application based model to create cyber security awareness in the region was preferred by the majority. The results indicated that, although cybercrime is on the rise, no specific approach is being followed to increase cyber security awareness in the region except for CERT regulations and online information on government websites. Additionally, Chi-Square test results (t(627)=3.85, p=0.013) indicated that Internet skills have an effect on cyber security practices from the users\u27 end and there is an association between skill level and the security measures being implemented by organisations in the region. The study found that there is an immediate need to develop a model to create cyber security awareness in the region in order to combat cybercrime

Evaluation of the SnapChat mobile social networking application for breast cancer awareness among Saudi students in the Dammam Region of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

“…In conjunction with rising breast cancer cases, the country of Saudi Arabia has seen rapid changes across mobile and internet platforms that can be used for increasing health awareness and for providing remote medical care. 12 , 13 The number of internet and smartphone users in Saudi Arabia is increasing rapidly. Currently, there are 15.9 million smart-phone users in the country, and this number is expected to reach 19.1 million by 2019.…”

Measuring the level of cyber-security awareness for cybercrime in Saudi Arabia

“…Since most current papers are limited to specific sectors or targets, only Alotaibi's paper [19] is similar to our questionnaire; therefore, we compared our findings with Alotaibi's results to see if there are any discrepancies or recent changes.…”

“…This study aims to monitor the ease of use of digital devices and the Internet, and how their knowledge can be affected. Aligning with the model, we gained benefit from previous studies [19] , [36] , [37] to establish the final version of the survey, with the following hypotheses: There is an inverse proportional relationship between the level of awareness and increases in the number of incident cases. There is a proportional relationship between level of background, awareness and education and ability to deal with cybercrimes There is a lack of awareness of the role of authorities, such as eGovernment portal and Saudi CERT, in dealing with cybercrimes from the individual's side.…”

“…Alotaibi et al [19] examined the cybersecurity awareness among Saudi nationals through a quantitative online-based survey, by employing 629 subjects (70% of whom were male and 30% female). The study found that although the participants had good IT knowledge, their awareness level in relation to cybercrime, cybersecurity practices, and the role of government and organizations in ensuring the integrity of information online was limited.…”

“…The experiments were conducted with 60 subjects and found that the preferred methods, based on subjects' feedback, were video followed by texting. Finally, Nadeem et al [36] used online and offline surveys [19] of people in Bangladesh to measure their level of cyber-security awareness. The study found that the level of awareness was not satisfactory, and that a large percentage of people were unaware of standard cybersecurity practices.…”