Cybersecurity and Prevention against Cyberbullying on Human Factors in Small- and Medium-Sized Telecommunications Enterprises in the Republic of Bulgaria

Abstract

The publication addresses a current issue related to cyberbullying in the workplace, as much of today’s business activity is conducted online. The research is aimed at the typology and manifestation of cyberbullying in a practical environment, and a number of small- and medium-sized telecommunications enterprises have been studied. The research was conducted in the territory of three large cities in the Republic of Bulgaria, and a quantitative approach was used in the development of an online survey, through which empirical data were generated in the business of small- and medium-sized telecommunications enterprises. Based on the results, an analysis was made of the typology and manifestation of cyberbullying, in order to study how it affects the human factors and what its causes are. It has been established that cyberbullying causes negative effects, both in people’s professional activity and in their emotional state in the absence of adequate cybersecurity and prevention mechanisms on the part of the investigated enterprises. Based on the information obtained, methodological guidelines are proposed for improving cybersecurity and prevention against malicious cyberbullying attacks in the technological infrastructure of the telecommunications enterprise.

Keywords

• cyberbullying
• human factors
• cybersecurity
• prevention
• telecommunications enterprises