Analysis of Social Engineering Awareness Among Students and Lecturers

Abstract

The massive technological progress and wide use of Information Technology have increased cyber security threats. Social engineering attacks are a common type of cyber security threat that faces everyone. It uses several methods, such as pretexting using Artificial Intelligence or phishing, to attack users’ valuable data due to human error. The risks of data attacks have increased, especially in the institutions sector, as the use of digital technologies become easier around the users. This paper investigates the awareness of social engineering attacks and cyber-security threats at the University of Sulaimani. The University of Sulaimani, based in the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, has a large number of students and staff; due to the increase of social engineering threats and lack of knowledge of cyber securities, the internet users at the University of Sulaimani put their confidential data at risk. This research has employed a quantitative approach, using a self-report questionnaire to gather primary data from participants. The online survey has been launched at the University of Sulaimani to provide a measurement of social engineering attacks on students and staff. The results show a variety of factors impacting participants’ awareness of their data. The objective of this study is to evaluate the participants’ knowledge of cyber-security and analyze their awareness of social engineering data breaches. One implication of this study is that the participants are inexperienced with network security systems. The attendees also emphasized the significance of SE training and ongoing instruction in order to protect against threats.

Keywords

• Cyber security attacks
• evaluation
• phishing
• social engineering awareness