Cybersecurity Awareness: Investigating Students’ Susceptibility to Phishing Attacks for Sustainable Safe Email Usage in Academic Environment (A Case Study of a Nigerian Leading University)

Abstract

With the advancement in information communication technology (ICT), cyber-attacks have become a global phenomenon, with email phishing at the topmost. Academic institutions' ICT infrastructures are one of many targets, thus the need to facilitate cybersecurity awareness among students. This research is aimed at investigating students’ susceptibility to phishing attacks for sustainable safe electronic mail (email) usage in the academic environment. Two email phishing tests were carried out during this research work to discover how students reacted to phish emails and understand how students respond to phish emails where all group members are recipients. Finally, questionnaires are administered to participants after completing the exercise to ascertain the students' awareness of phishing attacks based on received emails. The results show that 70.6% of college students surveyed are susceptible to this form of attack due to unawareness. In conclusion, recommendations are outlined on securing the academic community and ICT infrastructures to achieve a sustainable and Safe email usage environment.