All are vulnerable to cyber-attacks on essential infrastructure. Individually, cyber security concerns can put one's wealth, identity, and privacy in danger. To address the cyber security awareness among female students in higher education institutions, there is a need for some cyber security-related awareness program. This survey analyzed Cyber Security awareness among female university students of The Maharaja Sayajirao University of Baroda and enlightens students about the dangers and challenges that are prevalent in cyberspace. It was an experimental research where 167 female students were selected purposively. Data were collected through online survey which need lot of follow up as students were not filling the survey from. The findings of the study revealed that female students were less aware about the various terms related to cybercrime such as phishing, cyber bulling, cyber stalking and so on. The students were aware about password security and social media security whereas they have less awareness about browser security. The awareness session found effective in generating awareness about cyber crime and cyber security among the female university students. Less number of students attended the session; they should understand the importance of cyber security. The study concludes that there is a great need o generating awareness about cyber security among the students. The findings of the study recommend that universities should include curriculum on cyber security for the students.

Cyber crime, Cyber Security, Students, Awareness

This study aimed to understand the use of technology among female students and generate awareness among the students for cybercrime and cyber security. It also suggests ways of technology used so that the risks and harms associated with it can be mitigated and opportunities and benefits are accentuated. The risk and harms to female students are cyber crimes like- cyber bullying, hacking, phishing, online job, and financial frauds, misuse of online profiles and pictures, morphing of images, etc. The benefits of the technology are helpful in their studies, and activities, make their communication better and establish networks. It is very important to understand the way technology is used, how much it is used, and for what it is used. This decides the balance between opportunities and benefits on the one side and risks and harms on the other. The findings of this study revealed that female students own their smartphones and they use other technology such as laptops, desktops, and tablets in their daily work. They spend more than 2 hours on different devices per day. They use their mobile data most of the time to access the internet. The majority of them use technology for online chatting, listening to music, watching videos, recharging their internet package, and browsing information on the internet. Despite the heavy use of technology, more than half of the students were not aware of cybercrime which is a troublesome situation for them. This is also reflected in the awareness of various terms related to cybercrime and security. As many of them had less awareness or no awareness about phishing, social engineering, firewall, identity theft, etc. the statistical difference was found in awareness about general security, password security, and browser security concerning the use of several devices. The finding also highlighted that the awareness session helped students in gaining information and knowledge regarding cyber security. It is visible that there was a gain in knowledge regarding certain terms associated with cybercrime and security such as phishing, 2 –factor authentification, the importance of antivirus, cyberbullying, etc. after the session. This indicates that the awareness session not only increased cyber security awareness on the specific topics it addressed but also helped students in general. It indicated that if students are provided with thorough knowledge of this area then they can improve their digital practices and can make sure that they remain safe digitally. As the youth use technology and specifically the internet from multiple devices, there will always be a need for generating awareness and building their capacity to be safe and secure digitally. Real knowledge and skills of using and practicing rules related to digital safety need to be built among female students with the help of teaching and learning. It can be covered in their curriculum. University and academic institutions need to hold comprehensive security awareness and training sessions regularly to recognize the most common cyber security threats and vulnerabilities. The right to privacy is the fundamental right of every Indian citizen including youth and specifically females and the use of digital media by females should not be used against them or to hamper their future in any way. This concluded that cyber security is highly recommendable to the students in the university and encourages more females to participate in the awareness programme. To minimize the effect of any breach, cyber security awareness through education, workshop, seminars, and other methods within the university is highly encouraged. It should be noted that this research still has several limitations, such as the level of questions reliability, which is still not decent and the limited use of the independent variables. This research also did not always represent another more comprehensive cyber security topic. In future research, it is recommendable to add more variables that might affect cyber security awareness.

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Krutika Bhate (2023). A Study on Awareness about Cyber Security Among the Female University Students. International Journal on Emerging Technologies, 14(2): 13–19.