Cyber security awareness and education framework for Sri Lanka

Abstract

Purpose: This article investigated on the increasing of the cyber security awareness and education aspects among the general public in Sri Lanka and the effects of it. The purpose of this paper is to propose a framework that will help in bringing up the cyber security awareness and education levels among the public to a satisfactory standard. Design/methodology/approach: Data were gathered from 131 random respondents from western and southern provinces of Sri Lanka, and 7 selected domain experts. Data analysis was performed using descriptive statistics and thematic analysis. The author has employed evaluation with 10 selected domain experts. Findings: Results have showed that there were lot of issues related cyber security and online safety (i.e., avoiding cyber threats, safe internet usage, online best practices, emergency contacts etc.), among the public, that were not addressed properly. Due to this lack cyber security awareness and education aspects, it was identified as the main reason for getting into cyber security related problems. Furthermore, the key aspects such as, identified issues to be addressed via proper solutions, to increase the cyber security awareness and education in Sri Lanka, from the data gathered, also taking other existing strategies in other countries, on increasing the cyber security awareness and education are compared and discussed here, finally to come up with a framework as a solution to the identified problems. Originality/value: According to the authors knowledge, this is one of the first studies to emphasize the relationship between lack of cyber security education and awareness in Sri Lankan general public and the implications arises from it. This research paper reveals that the cyber security related problems among the public can be cut down to a larger extent by educating them and making them well aware. Theoretical and practical implications were discussed. "