1. Information Security Awareness and HBCU Students: A Preliminary Exploration of Attitudes and Behaviors
Tiren A. Parker & Scott M. Debb
Norfolk State University/Virginia Consortium Program for Clinical Psychology

2. Introduction
Interest in understanding the weakest link in information security
We know about organizational issues and insider threat
What do we know about the next cohort of professionals?
What do we know about culturally-diverse students?
Importance of social AND developmental theories
Cognitive development
Decision making
Motivation
Psycho-social development
Early vs. late adolescence
Adolescence vs. teens
Teens vs. adults
Cultural differences

3. Current Study Examining student attitudes and behaviors
Understanding the information security awareness culture of the next cohort of undergraduate students, especially African Americans (attending an HBCU)
Compare AA to C samples to examine differences in responding
Help distinguish between being tech savvy and being a potential security risk
What attitudes and behaviors need to be augmented by education
Can we transfer this to opportunities for early education (e.g., K-12)
For today, some preliminary results

4. Method
Norfolk State University & Old Dominion University IRB Approvals
Participants recruited through convenience sampling
Participants completed an anonymous online survey
Instrumentation assessed:
Information security attitudes and behavior
Personality
Social media engagement and smotivation
Standard demographic screener

5. Measures Computer Skills Internet Skills Prior Experience
Information Security Attitudes and Behaviors (Anwar, He, Ash, Yuan, Li, & Xu, 2016)
75-items
12 domains:
Computer Skills
Internet Skills
Prior Experience
Perceived Vulnerability
Perceived Severity
Perceived Benefits
Perceived Barriers
Response Efficacy
Cues to Action
Security Self-Efficacy
Peer Behavior
Cybersecurity Behavior

6. Measures The Big Five Inventory (BFI; John, Donahue, & Kentle, 1991)
44-items
Five domains:
Extraversion
Agreeableness
Conscientiousness
Neuroticism
Openness

7. Measures Instagram Motivation Questionnaire (see Keep & Amon, 2017)
40-items
Instagram use
Engagement
e.g., How often do you engage with Instagram to:
Behavior
e.g., I go on Instagram to....

8. Preliminary Results 90 undergraduate students
Freshman (N=7); Sophomores (N=17); Juniors (N=26); Seniors (N=40)
18-62 years old
58% < 20
86% < 30
53% African American; 32.2% Caucasian
74% Female; 24% Male
93% use social media
64% employed

9. Preliminary Results Self-reported Cybersecurity Behaviors
38.9%- Use different passwords
40%- Review privacy/security settings
53.3%- Keep antivirus up to date
62.2%- Watch for unusual behavior
55.5%- Never sent sensitive information
50%- Back-up important files
47.8%- Always act on malware alerts
40%- Don’t click on short URLs

10. African Americans (N=48)
Preliminary Results
African Americans (N=48)
Caucasians (N=29)
M (SD)
General Computer Skills
4.82 (.71)
5.08 (.52)
Prior Experience
4.90 (1.32)
5.36 (1.36)
Perceived Vulnerability
4.33 (1.28)
4.79 (1.05)
Perceived Severity *
5.52 (1.25)
4.91 (1.34)
Perceived Benefits
5.72 (1.06)
5.87 (.86)
Perceived Barriers
3.34 (1.49)
3.34 (1.11)
Perceived Response
5.64 (1.18)
5.88 (.76)
Cues to Action
4.92 (1.31)
4.96 (.95)
Security Self-Efficacy
4.11 (1.43)
4.34 (1.45)
Peer Behavior
3.92 (1.14)
3.56 (1.33)
Cybersecurity Behavior
5.03 (1.14)
5.51 (.86)

11. Preliminary Results African Americans Caucasians M (SD) Extraversion
3.34 (.66)
3.25 (.76)
Agreeableness
4.02 (.65)
3.93 (.73)
Conscientiousness
3.95 (.69)
3.95 (.62)
Neuroticism
2.67 (.92)
3.05 (.20)
Openness
3.75 (.55)
3.70 (.58)

12. Preliminary Results Correlations between information security attitudes/behaviors and personality
Extraversion
Computer Skills, Prior Experiences, Perceived Severity, Response Efficacy, Cues to Action, Security Self-Efficacy, Cybersecurity Behavior
Agreeableness
Perceived Severity, Perceived Benefits, Response Efficacy, Cues to Action, Cybersecurity Behavior
Conscientiousness
Computer Skills, Prior Experiences, Perceived Severity, Perceived Benefits, Perceived Barriers*, Response Efficacy, Cues to Action, Security Self-Efficacy, Cybersecurity Behavior
Neuroticism
Computer Skills*, Prior Experiences*, Perceived Severity*, Perceived Barriers, Cues to Action*, Security Self-Efficacy*, Cybersecurity Behavior*
Openness
* Indicates a negative correlation

13. Preliminary Results 71.1% use Instagram (N=61) Years of use: 1-9 years
46.9% use Instagram “several times per day”
Like posts N %
Never 1
1.1
A few times a year 2
2.2
Once a month
2-3 times a month 7
7.8
Once a week
Multiple times a week 21
23.3
Once a day 10
11.1
Multiple Times per day 16
17.8
Make comments on posts N %
Never 5
5.6
A few times a year 2
2.2
Once a month 10
11.1
2-3 times a month 17
18.9
Once a week 7
7.8
Multiple times a week 11
12.2
Once a day 4
4.4
Multiple Times per day

14. Discussion Correlation ≠ causation Examine younger cohorts
UG Freshman
Teens
Elementary school
Compare cross-culturally; cross generationally
Is the next generation technologically “at-risk”
If so, how?
Can empirical evidence influence public policy?
Proactive education (e.g., K-12) to create a more secure and trustworthy cyberspace in the future

15. References available upon request
Thank you!
Tiren Parker, M.A.
Scott M. Debb, Ed.D.
References available upon request