CYBERCRIME CONSCIOUSNESS AMONG UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS Muideen Adeseye Awodiran Department of Accounting Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti; Nigeria awodiranma@abuad.edu.ng; https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3601-4060 Abiodun Thomas Ogundele Department of Finance Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti; Nigeria biodunogundele@abuad.edu.ng; https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9128-9385 Udosen Jacob Idem Department of Private and Business Law, Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti, Nigeria idemudosen@gmail.com, idemudosen@abuad.edu.ng; https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4938-1807 Anwana, Emem O. Faculty of Management Science, Durban University of Technology, South Africa emema@dut.ac.za https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3209- 721X Abstract - The growing rate of cyberspace crimes in nations across the world and Nigeria in particular calls for concern. Adolescents who are typically students and more frequent on the internet constitute the most victims of cybercrimes. Lack of cybercrime consciousness has been attributed to the increasing rate of cybercrimes in Nigeria. This study assessed the level of undergraduate students’ cybercrime consciousness, as well as the difference between the level of cybercrime consciousness according to gender. Data were gathered from a sample of 171 undergraduate students of Afe Babalola University, Ado-Ekiti, Nigeria, through a survey questionnaire, and were analysed using descriptive and independent sample t-test statistics. The study found that the extent of cybercrime consciousness amongst undergraduate students is generally low. Also, the study found a significant difference on the extent of cybercrime consciousness among female and male students. It is recommended that more efforts be geared towards campaigns on the pervasiveness of cybercrimes to engender more awareness and reduce the incidence of cyberspace criminalities. Keywords – Cybercrime, undergraduate students, cybercrime consciousness, gender I. INTRODUCTION For many years, the world has experienced remarkable developments in information communication technology. The advent of computers and many other software have significantly enhanced the mode of operations of businesses. This increased rate of use of electronic devices like computers, internet facilities has produced both good and bad outcomes. The upsurge in cybercrime is one major adverse implication. The expansion of cyber functionalities opened up numerous opportunities for many to perpetrate criminal acts and facilitate the use of internet as a tool for fraudulent exploits. While firms and individuals are tapping business related benefits from the cyber functionalities, they may be oblivious of the fact that cyberspace presents similar opportunities for those wishing to attack [15]. These fraudulent individuals, usually in forms of criminal organisations, hacker groups, and worldwide espionage units are able to access sophisticated and evolving competences, which they deploy to identify, profile and strike their unsuspecting victims. The cyberspace attackers have well organized and developed markets where their tools and expertise used in targeting and attacking their victims are bought and sold. As a matter of fact, the attacks cannot be attributed to technological threat only, if one aligns with the proposition that economically advanced and modern societies are progressively turning ‘information societies’, it is therefore logical to state that, dangers to information can be seen as those affecting what is fundamental to these societies [5]. Essentially, every facet of any country’s economy is vulnerable to the threat of cybercrime. Young individuals who frequently use internet, especially those in tertiary institutions are more exposed to the risk of cybercrimes. Although, bulk of the reported cases of cybercrime was also alleged to have been committed mostly by the youths [18]. The number of cybercrimes has been on the increase in every nation [2]. Internet criminal activities knowns as cybercrimes come in forms of disturbing people’s emotion and hacking online bank accounts, information theft, amongst others. Lack of cybercrime consciousness has been attributed to students of tertiary institutions becoming victims of cybercrimes. According to Jones and Heinrichs [11], this group has less consciousness of computer security and inadequate knowledge of cyberthreats. To this end, this study assesses the rate of cybercrime consciousness among undergraduate students in Nigeria, as well the difference (if any) in the extent of cybercrime consciousness among undergraduate students from gender perspective. This study is important in that it provides information about cybercrimes to undergraduate 2023 International Conference On Cyber Management And Engineering (CyMaEn) 978-1-6654-9329-1/23/$31.00 ©2023 IEEE 301 2023 International Conference On Cyber Management And Engineering (CyMaEn) | 978-1-6654-9329-1/23/$31.00 ©2023 IEEE | DOI: 10.1109/CyMaEn57228.2023.10050982 Authorized licensed use limited to: Durban University of Technology. Downloaded on March 02,2023 at 17:58:00 UTC from IEEE Xplore. Restrictions apply.