Cybersecurity Awareness and Workplace Security Expectations Among University Students as Future Employees

Sammanfattning

In response to the growing reliance on digital technologies, cybersecurity has become a critical concern for higher education and workplaces. Cybersecurity is thought to be a technical problem, but research shows that human factors, such as awareness, attitudes and behaviour are just as important. University students make up a large population group as they are frequent users of digital systems and due to the fact they are future employees who will be expected to comply with secure digital practices in the workplace. Still, in a number of forms of higher education, their level of cybersecurity awareness is insufficiently understood. The purpose of this study is to investigate the cybersecurity awareness among university students to understand its significance for them as future employees. The study examines students’knowledge of cyber risks, attitudes toward cybersecurity and self-reported digital security behaviour. This follows a socio-technical perspective as well as the human factors approach and Protection Motivation Theory. The study utilized a quantitative cross section survey design. Descriptive statistics will be used to analyze and the data will be collected through a structured questionnaire. This study is anticipated to contribute to the literature on cybersecurity awareness in higher education and to spawn actionable recommendations for making students better prepared to behave securely in workplaces