The impacts of technological and personal factors on the security awareness of smartphone users : A thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Information Science In Information Technology at Massey University, Albany, New Zealand.

Abstract

With the increasing popularity of mobile devices (e.g. smartphones) and the resulting security risk (e.g. cybercriminals seeking to compromise devices to target user information), enhanced user security awareness is critical in securing the devices and the data. This research investigates that what technological and personal factors affect smartphone users’ security awareness. An online (web-based) survey was conducted between September 2015 and March 2016 to explore the impacts of technological factors (e.g. platforms and applications) and personal factors (e.g. educational and technological backgrounds, gender and age, and ethnicity) on smartphone users’ security awareness. Findings from the analysis of 919 responses indicate that the factors that are statistically significant in relation to smartphone security awareness are technological backgrounds, educational levels, downloading apps, installed apps, and using cracked apps.