Information Security Awareness: Comparing Perceptions and Training Preferences

Use of the Internet has become our second nature. With each passing day computers and mobile devices are becoming ubiquitous in our society. In this backdrop the confidentiality of information is now a question of paramount importance. It is understood fact now that merely technical security solutions cannot guarantee security. End users are required to have solid understanding of the security issues. This study is carried out to compare and understand the perceived Information Technology (IT) and Information Security knowledge level of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) users of two countries, Pakistan and Finland. The respondents are university students belonging to different age groups and with different educational background. Perception of respondents regarding Information Security Awareness (ISA) has been compared and no significant difference has been found. There is visible difference among information sharing habits in both groups of respondents. In both cases, respondents turn to similar sources for information security knowledge, however, there is difference in order of preference. Preferences toward Information Security related trainings are also same but with difference in order.