A Comprehensive Study on Cybersecurity Awareness: Adaptation and Validation of a Questionnaire in Hungarian Higher Technical Education

Abstract

Background: Cybersecurity is an extremely important topic in the 21 st Century, especially for students in education. It is essential for career development in technical higher education to know how to defend against digital threats and cyberattacks effectively. Education may enhance digital literacy and security awareness. To measure the success of this development it is essential to have a reliable measurement tool. Objective: This study aims to develop a Hungarian adaptation of the Cybersecurity attitude survey (CS-C), to test the psychometric properties of the survey among students of technical higher education institutions and to analyze the results. Method: The 25-item questionnaire measures cyberawareness on a 5-point Likert scale. A pilot study with 35 participants, who were retested after a few weeks, was conducted in the first round. For a more comprehensive analysis, N=398 participants in higher technical education were included in the second phase of the study. Results: The results of the psychometric analyses demonstrated the internal reliability and validity of the CS-C-H questionnaire and confirmed that it is reliable ( α =.858) in its application and interpretation along dimensions of cyberspace-related attitudes, especially among students in education. Respondents' cybersecurity awareness is at an acceptable level, but question-specific differences between groups can be found. Further research into the factors that influence the development of attitudes is, therefore, worthwhile. Conclusion: The use of this diagnostic tool among Hungarian students is justified based on the results of the study.