07/21/2024

Adel Abdulmohsen Alfalah performed a study to investigate what factors influence security awareness practices. During this study, Alfalah set off to answer questions regarding how using learning management systems (LMS) dictated the way in which the students’ attitudes changed their perception on cyber security. This study was very interesting as it looks into the lives of the younger generation and can show how social roles, norms, institutions, and their own beliefs and values affect the way they view and practice cyber security.

To begin with, it is important to understand how many students perceive the internet as a whole. The vastness that the internet provides the globe would drastically provide a view that it is a non-secure place. Many rules and regulations have not been implemented in regard to safeguarding the public as their privacy can be impacted. These concerns are understandable and when looking at this, societal roles are viewed differently and societal norms can change on a whim. Organizations have access to the data over hundreds of millions, potentially billions of people. In order to keep the trust of the public many institutions need to formulate a strong security policy in order to protect the data of the users.

As organizations fill in their role, what can be seen is that students would want the university to prevent and mitigate data breaches as much as possible. Alfalah goes into describes how many students feel that there is a huge risk of “privacy breaches, identity theft, and intellectual property violations,” so much of the societal norm at school perceives that the internet is unsafe, potentially changing the perspective of students and how they feel about data being on LMS’s. With differences between learning habits also, the security practices, in the article, show that they differ between strictly LMS students and hybrid/in-class students. Much of the LMS students, who are solely online learning, tend to practice extreme importance of internet security and have the knowledge to guard themselves against potential attacks. However, there is a higher perceived risk of those who do not educate themselves or practice technically on a daily basis.

So to further elaborate on Alfalah’s study, the research was made on the basis of a survey in order to see what factors were key influences on a student’s behavior towards the internet and if internet security awareness would change this. The key data components that were gathered, via an online survey, showed that many “perceived privacy, trust in the internet, trust in the university, and perceived cyber risk are key influencers factors on attitude”. The survey presents questions to the university students with how they viewed the internet. The results gathered from the study showed that much of the responses were negative as privacy, cyber risk, and overall behavior toward online the “Surveys and Cybersecurity Research” Method in order to find a specific sample to interview and find out where a problem can be. This is a great method for such a large scale study, but it does not truly provide a large enough sample to deem that internet security is not taken seriously.

With regard to CYSE 201S, the research provides an insight into different modules and how studies can be used to observe cyber security behavior. When looking into the research, many could begin to branch from the study and try to see if there are other factors that could have potentially changed the research, such as looking into social groups having influences on their peers, potentially life altering events that took place, or even just upbringing from a family standpoint and how these behaviors could factor into their behavior towards the internet in general and how it could skew or change a person’s beliefs regarding cyber practices. Different social science theories have been formulated from the likes of Freud, Sykes, and Matza, that can truly define how people behave when it comes to internet practices. The research that was used by them allows for many to see that behaviors are perpetuated by different factors and could ultimately lead to more research in order to find answers. Alfalah uses this research and study to try and find answers to a more ‘concise’ issue, but when viewing the article as a whole, it would open grounds for much more research to be made.

These findings would allow for many people in society to take hold of cyber security practices and hopefully provide reasons to push for more regulations and policies so that users can be more ‘at ease’ when it comes to internet usage. Even with a small study conducted at a university, the study brings into light the importance of behaviors toward the internet in general and how perception can cause problems with users and how they interact with others online. If the younger generations continue to view the internet as untrustworthy and not a place of privacy, how would we be able to instill the appropriate practices if it pushes the public away, even from something like learning management systems. Every organization should have a role and responsibility to prioritize its users and clients in order to continue safe practices. These practices could then be, in turn, passed on to other organizations, mitigating the threat of data breaches and loss of sensitive information.

References
Alfalah, A. A. (2023, January 22). The role of Internet security awareness as a moderating variable on cyber security perception: Learning management system as a case study, 10(2023), 136-144. International Journal of Advanced and Applied Sciences. https://science-gate.com/IJAAS/Articles/2023/2023-10-04/1021833ijaas202304017.pdf

Alfalah A (2021). Visualization of e-gov adoption models in a developing region: A review of the predictors in empirical research. International Journal of Electronic Government Research, 17(4): 103-121. https://doi.org/10.4018/IJEGR.2021100106

Al-Fraihat D, Joy M, and Sinclair J (2020). Evaluating e-learning systems success: An empirical study. Computers in Human Behavior, 102: 67-86. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2019.08.004

Saroia AI and Gao S (2019). Investigating university students’ intention to use mobile learning management systems in Sweden. Innovations in Education and Teaching International, 56(5): 569-580. https://doi.org/10.1080/14703297.2018.1557068