Cybersecurity Awareness among Special Needs Students: The Role of Parental Control

Abstract

The awareness of cybersecurity among special needs students is necessary to help them stay safe while using technology. Recently, a good amount of interest has been drawn toward understanding the concepts and awareness of cybersecurity, and institutions have made efforts to help introduce awareness campaigns to help students understand the concepts of cybersafety, particularly for special needs students. The prior literature has focused primarily on exploring students' preferences, readiness, and experiences with cybersecurity. However, little attention has been given to measuring the level of cybersecurity awareness among students with special needs. To bridge this knowledge gap, the present study conducted an online survey to analyse the level of cybersecurity awareness and parental control among secondary school students with special needs aged 13 to 19 years in Malaysia. The study revealed that special needs students have a moderate level of cybersecurity awareness, with no significant difference among genders or academic streams. However, age does play a role in the level of awareness. Students with better cybersecurity knowledge are more satisfied with their online activities. Educating and monitoring special needs students on cyberattacks, password management, and phishing is crucial. In addition, parental control was found to be reasonable for most parents of students with special needs. This study contributes new knowledge by emphasizing the importance of parental control as a moderating variable in explanatory studies. It also highlights the need for further research in this area to expand the understanding of the importance of cybersecurity and how it can be implemented in specific school environments.