Does threat knowledge influence protective behaviors of students in the context of cyber security in remote learning amid COVID-19 crisis?

Abstract

Amid the current period of massive migration to remote learning, it can be practically assumed in the context of cyber security that giving students threat knowledge will increase their protective behaviors. An emerging stance in behavior theories, however, offer an interesting ground on the dissociation between knowledge and behavior. This article is a preliminary study with the aim to test if threat knowledge influence protective behaviors of students in the context of cyber security in remote learning amid the COVID-19 crisis. Gathering data from a sample of students from a teacher education department of a Philippine university, modified questionnaires were used in online surveys. The results revealed that the students are somewhat knowledgeable about the possible threats and they sometimes practice protective behaviors in remote learning. This indicates a practical need to heighten the cyber security of the students. This study further found no significant relationship between threat knowledge and protective behaviors of the students. While this outcome contributes a piece of evidence in the current debate in behavior theories, further validation in other contexts is necessary.