Observations on Genderwise Differences among University Students in Information Security Awareness

Virtanen, Seppo; Farooq, Ali; Isoaho, Johanna; Isoaho, Jouni

doi:10.4018/ijisp.2015040104

Cited by 10 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 27 publications

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“…Male respondents exhibited a risky behaviour for downloading apps from an untrusted third-party repository, connecting to unsecured Wi-Fi networks, updating of apps and rooting or jailbreaking. These results are similar to those obtained by Parker et al (2015) and Farooq et al (2015). Male respondents preferred biometric authentication mechanism, whereas female participants preferred PIN/password.…”

Section: Results and Analysissupporting

confidence: 89%

Cybersecurity behaviour of smartphone users in India: an empirical analysis

Shah

Agarwal

2020

ICS

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Purpose For a good number of Indians, their smartphone is their first digital computing device. They have less experience in dealing with the Internet-enabled device and hence less experience in handling security threats like malware as compared to users of other countries who have gone through the learning curve of handling such security threats using other Internet-enabled devices such as laptop and desktop. Because of this, the inexperienced Indian smartphone user may be vulnerable to Internet-related security breaches, as compared to the citizens of developed economies. Hence, it is essential to understand the attitude, behaviour and security practices of smartphone users in India. Limited research is available about the security behaviour of smartphone users in India as the majority of research in this domain is done outside India. Design/methodology/approach In this empirical study, the researchers identified 28 cybersecurity behaviours and practices through a survey of relevant literature. An online survey of identified cybersecurity behaviours and practices was administered to 300 smartphone users. Frequency analysis of the respondent data was done to understand the adoption of recommended cybersecurity behaviours and practices. Pearson’s chi-square with 5% level of significance has been used to test the hypotheses. Post hoc analysis with Bonferroni correction was conducted for statistically significant associations. Findings Overall, the respondents did not exhibit good cybersecurity behaviour. Respondents have adopted some of the most popular security features of the smartphone such as the use of screen lock. However, respondents have not adopted or are not aware of the technical security controls such as encryption and remote wipe. Statistically significant differences were found between the cybersecurity behaviour and practices and independent variables such as gender, age, mobile operating system (OS) and mother tongue. Respondents reported high level of motivation to protect their device and data, whereas they reported moderate level of threat awareness and the ability to protect to their device and data. Results of the comparative analysis with a similar study in China and the USA are also reported in this study. Research limitations/implications The main limitations of this study are as follows: the respondents' perceptions about their cybersecurity behaviours and practices were measured as opposed to their actual behaviours and practices and the generalizability of the study is limited because the sample size is small as compared to the total number of smartphone users in India. Practical implications The findings of this study may be useful for the design of effective cybersecurity prevention and intervention programs for general smartphone users of India. Originality/value This study provides an insight about cybersecurity behaviour of smartphone users in India. To the knowledge of the researchers, this is the first study to collect such quantitative data of smartphone users in India for a better understanding of the cybersecurity behaviours and practices. This study identified 28 cybersecurity behaviours and practices, which smartphone users should follow to improve cybersecurity.

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Section: Results and Analysissupporting

confidence: 89%

Cybersecurity behaviour of smartphone users in India: an empirical analysis

Shah

Agarwal

2020

ICS

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“…In other words, providing academic librarians with more educational training on CDP will increase their awareness on the importance and knowledge of CDP. The findings were consistent with previous studies (Chua et al 2018;Farooq et al 2015;Öğütçü et al 2016) where educational level had a positive influence on the awareness of information security policies. The findings were also consistent with studies conducted in the health profession (Byrd et al 2012;Primomo 2007;Primomo and Björling 2013;Rains and Carroll 2000), where the educational level had a positive relationship with the awareness, knowledge, and possible engagement in health policy development.…”

Section: Discussionsupporting

confidence: 93%

“…This assumption has been supported by several empirical studies that have looked at the awareness and knowledge level of policy in various professions. For instance, in the information profession, educational level was found to be significantly correlated with the awareness and compliance of information security policy (Farooq et al 2015;Chua et al 2018;Öğütçü, Testik and Chouseinoglou 2016). These studies indicated that respondents with higher educational levels had better knowledge and awareness of information security policies than those with a lower educational level.…”

Section: Importance Of Education and Training On Cdpmentioning

confidence: 92%

Assessing academic librarians’ awareness on the importance and knowledge of collection development policy in Nigeria

Yakubu¹,

Idaya

Farid

2022

MJLIS

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Despite the importance of collection development policy (CDP) in developing library collection, little has been written about the awareness and knowledge of those who are responsible for formulating, maintaining, and updating this policy, especially in Nigeria where collection development challenges seem to be rampant. Therefore, this study assesses Nigerian academic librarians’ awareness on the importance and knowledge of CDP and also determines whether academic librarians’ educational level and working experience influence their awareness on the importance and knowledge of CDP. The study employed a quantitative methodology using a survey research design. One hundred and thirty-six (I36) academic librarians were recruited from three selected academic libraries in the Northwestern zone of Nigeria using a random sampling method. A survey questionnaire developed based on the IFLA (2001) guideline for collection development policy was used to collect the data. Descriptive and Spearman correlational analyses were used to analyze the data. The findings of the study revealed that academic librarians had a high level of awareness on the importance and knowledge of CDP. The findings also revealed that academic librarians’ educational level influenced their awareness on the importance (p = .000) and knowledge of CDP (p = .009). However, academic librarians’ working experience did not influence their awareness on the importance (p = .100) and knowledge of CDP (p = .307). This study has contributed to the management of academic libraries by providing useful information on the importance and knowledge of CDP among academic librarians in Nigeria. The study suggests that various educational programs are necessary to continue to improve the awareness on the importance and knowledge of CDP among library professionals in Nigeria.

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“…Farooq, et al [8] studied 1280 participants in six different colleges throughout India, Malaysia, Nepal, Pakistan, and Thailand. They documented Internet use and its correlation to the student user susceptibility level.…”

Section: Previous Workmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…They concluded that gender provides an insight on how a student learns cybersecurity skills. Men tend to gain security knowledge through self-taught means, while women tend to prefer formal training and interacting in their social circles [8].…”

Section: Previous Workmentioning

confidence: 99%

Phishing in an academic community: A study of user susceptibility and behavior

Diaz¹,

Sherman²,

Joshi

2019

Cryptologia

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We present an observational study on the relationship between demographic factors and phishing susceptibility at the University of Maryland, Baltimore County (UMBC). In spring 2018, we delivered phishing attacks to 450 randomlyselected students on three different days (1,350 students total) to examine user click rates and demographics among UMBC's undergraduates. Participants were initially unaware of the study. We deployed the Billing Problem, Contest Winner, and Expiration Date phishing tactics. Experiment 1 claimed to bill students; Experiment 2 enticed users with monetary rewards; and Experiment 3 threatened users with account cancellation.We found correlations resulting in lowered susceptibility based on college affiliation, academic year progression, cyber training, involvement in cyber clubs or cyber scholarship programs, time spent on the computer, and age demographics. We found no significant correlation between gender and susceptibility. Contrary to our expectations, we observed greater user susceptibility with greater phishing knowledge and awareness. Students who identified themselves as understanding the definition of phishing had a higher susceptibility than did their peers who were merely aware of phishing attacks, with both groups having a higher susceptibility than those with no knowledge of phishing. Approximately 59% of subjects who opened the phishing email clicked on its phishing link, and approximately 70% of those subjects who additionally answered a demographic survey clicked.

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Observations on Genderwise Differences among University Students in Information Security Awareness

Cited by 10 publications

References 27 publications

Cybersecurity behaviour of smartphone users in India: an empirical analysis

Cybersecurity behaviour of smartphone users in India: an empirical analysis

Assessing academic librarians’ awareness on the importance and knowledge of collection development policy in Nigeria

Phishing in an academic community: A study of user susceptibility and behavior

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