Evaluation of Information Systems Security Awareness in Higher Education: An Empirical Study of Kuwait University

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the levels of knowledge, attitude, and behavior of the end-user regarding Information Systems Security Awareness (ISSA) in higher education, specifically Kuwait University (KU), and to identify the areas which require attention. Factors such as knowledge, attitude and behavior affecting human awareness were identified and the Value-Focus-Thinking was used to identify Information Systems Security (ISS) focus-areas. The six ISS Focus-Areas were obtained such as commitment to ISS policy; effective use of passwords; safe usage of Internet and e-mail; being aware of ISS threats; backing up the important files; and required updates for operating system and antivirus programs. Furthermore, a questionnaire was designed based on the human awareness factors and the ISS focus-areas. The research population included the end-users of KU colleges. The study presents useful results for decision-makers in the field of ISS, to identify recent findings regarding the level of ISSA among end-users, and in order to develop better strategies to implement the required solutions such as training programs. In addition to the organizations, this study through concentrating on ISSA may assist individuals to protect their personal data privacy during their use of computers. The study recommends few relevant actions to improve the long term levels of knowledge, attitude and behavior, with the priority for improving attitude due to its identified poor level. Regarding the KU colleges, the study recommends giving priority to improvements to the seven colleges that had poor levels of ISSA.