City Research Online

Abstract

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to understand the information security behaviour of the students of the University of Dhaka, Bangladesh in the use of smartphones. Bangladesh is well known as one of the largest and fastest growing mobile phone market of the world, and the University of Dhaka is also the largest student’s assembly in the country in terms of using smartphones. Besides, the rising use of smartphones are also likely to be typical of other sub-continent countries.

Design/methodology/approach: To gain an understanding of the information security behaviours of the students of University of Dhaka, Bangladesh, a quantitative survey method was deployed in revealing the approaches of the students towards avoidance of various security risks. A total of 356 students participated in the study, although eight of the participants did not carry out the full survey because they do not use smartphones. The collected data was analyzed with suitable statistical methods.

Findings: The findings of the study reveal that students of University of Dhaka possess a moderately secure behaviour in terms of avoiding harmful behaviours, utilizing useful phone settings and add-on utilities and disaster recovery. This study also shows that the students do not behave securely in all aspects of using different security features in the same way, and it also varies somewhat according to gender, and between Faculties and Institutions. The university library is recommended as the focus for instruction and guidance on best practice in smartphone use by students.

Research limitations/implications: The study does not include any other universities of Bangladesh except University of Dhaka due to the shortage of time. A further study can be conducted to gain an understanding in a greater extent by including students of the other universities and perhaps also other countries. Originality/value – This is the first paper in Bangladesh relating the study of information security behavior regarding the use of smartphone among the student of University of Dhaka. This study will help to raise information security awareness among the students and encourage the authorities to adopt appropriate strategies and policies to resolve information security risks in the use of smartphones. Specially, the university library can take some initiatives in this case, like providing advice, seminars, workshops, lectures etc. in order to make the students aware about security issues.

Publication Type:	Article
Publisher Keywords:	information security; smartphones; university students; information behaviour; surveys; Bangladesh
Departments:	School of Communication & Creativity > Media, Culture & Creative Industries > Library & Information Science
SWORD Depositor:	Symplectic Administrator

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