Discipline: Social, Behavioral, and Economic Sciences
Subcategory: Social Sciences/Psychology/Economics
Session: 1
Room: Embassy
Tamia King - Norfolk State University
Background: Cybersecurity is the protection of computer systems, networks and data from unauthorized digital access. Cybersecurity is important in today’s society because it helps people keep their devices and personal information safe from hackers. Some ways people can safeguard their devices is by keeping information private, changing passwords often, reframing from clicking on unknown links or emails and updating software regularly. It is important that people invest in software protection so that they are not victims of an attack. Research Question & Design: The present study aims to investigate the awareness and knowledge of cybersecurity protocols among college students with qualitative interview.Methods: The data utilized in this study was taken from a sample of students at Norfolk State University in Fall 2021. A series of open-ended questions were used to interview college students about their views and knowledge of cybersecurity in organizations today. Interviews were done through zoom and recorded on the computer. Informed consent was provided before the interview. The collected data was analyzed with qualitative data analysis software Nvivo to recognize the key themes. Anonymity and confidentiality were guaranteed in data processing and management. Results: Majority of the participants in this research understood the importance of cybersecurity within the organization. They regard that cybersecurity rules and protocols are important in an organization because it helps protect the company from being hacked. In addition, organizations’ cybersecurity education programs for their employees on the potential risk are benefiting the employees by protecting their private information from being exploited. Some ways individuals can secure their devices is by avoiding common passwords, clicking on unknown emails and links, invest in vpns and antivirus software.Conclusion and Future Research Question: This study indicates the raising awareness of the importance of cybersecurity among college students. It further presents the college students knowledge of potential cybersecurity protocols in organizations. For most college students, cybersecurity is needed to ensure the protection of computers, networks and data from unauthorized users. Cybersecurity rules and protocols are important in organizations because it keeps one from being a victim of an attack. With the proper knowledge and training techniques employees can avoid being victims of an attack. Future research may focus on tapping respondents’ perceptions of the specific details that should be included in the cybersecurity training cybersecurity program.
Funder Acknowledgement(s): This present research was supported by the National Science Foundation(NSF # 1956428 – NSF Excellence in Research “The impact of Cybersecurity Policies on Employees’ Efficiency and Performance Predictability: A Sociology of Organization Analysis.”).
Faculty Advisor: Yuying Shen, Yshen@nsu.edu
Role: My involvement in this project is mainly related to data collection and data cleaning. I interviewed 25 participants. I learned how to probe my respondents during interviews and how to transcribe data. I also learned that cybersecurity is necessary in order to ensure the protection of software devices and personal information.