Smartphone cyber security awareness in developing countries: A case of Thailand

Abstract

Cyber security awareness among smartphone users is becoming one of the main challenges of cyber security in both developed and developing countries. This paper focuses on Thailand, a developing country that is ranked among the riskiest countries in the world with regards to cybercrime. Through a survey exploring the knowledge and practices of Thai student smartphone owners, as the young population is the largest user group, we seek to estimate the level of their cyber security awareness about the most common risks. The findings reveal that they are most susceptible to identity theft or data compromise, while they were on the whole found to have a higher level of security awareness than students in other countries. We argue for Thailand’s digital economy to be sustainable, ICT4D projects need to extend their focus to this population of smartphone users to increase security awareness.