Cybersecurity awareness in Zimbabwean universities: Perspectives from the students

Abstract

The study investigated the cybersecurity awareness (CSA) in Zimbabwean universities from the perspectives of the students. The study hypothesized a model to proffer theoretical and practical solutions to higher education students on cybersecurity training programs. The paper used a positivist approach to test three hypotheses on CSA among Zimbabwe universities. To test the hypothesized model, a total of 322 questionnaires were distributed among three universities in Zimbabwe. Descriptive and inferential statistics were used to test the data. ANOVA tests and regressions were used to test three hypotheses from the hypothesized model. Chi square was used for cross‐case analysis to test relationships between age, gender, education level, and institution on recoded variable CSA. The findings reveal that the social engineering attacks, malware attacks, and the internet of things attacks are all positively related to CSA findings from cross‐case analysis indicated that there were no differences on gender and age on CSA while there were differences on education level and institution on CSA. The findings from this study have implications for decision‐makers to come up with policies concerning CSA in the higher education sector.