International Journal of Community Medicine and Public Health | January 2023 | Vol 10 | Issue 1 Page 235 International Journal of Community Medicine and Public Health Sebastian SR et al. Int J Community Med Public Health. 2023 Jan;10(1):235-239 http://www.ijcmph.com pISSN 2394-6032 | eISSN 2394-6040 Original Research Article Are we cyber aware? A cross sectional study on the prevailing cyber practices among adults from Thiruvalla, Kerala Shaliet Rose Sebastian*, Bichu P. Babu INTRODUCTION We are living in the digital age wherein Internet has become an unavoidable part of daily life be it connecting with friends and family, or other transactions like online bank transactions, educational classes, healthcare consultations etc. After the covid era the frequency of online transactions has risen considerably compared to the pre covid era. Ensuring the security of online transactions therefore has become the need of the hour. Cyber-crime is described in a simpler term as any unlawful activity which is committed using any computing devices, like computer/smartphone and which is a part of internet. There are different methods by which cyber-crime is committed and which include 1) attacks on computer systems, 2) cyber-bullying, 3) email spam, 4) phishing, 5) identity theft. Previous literature has revealed that cyber security, including cyber risk assessment and reporting has become a managerial accounting and auditing matter, subject to cost-benefit analysis, internal ABSTRACT Background: Cyber-crime is described as any unlawful activity which is committed using any computing devices, like computer/smartphone and which is a part of internet. There are different methods by which cyber-crime is committed which include 1) attacks on computer systems, 2) cyber-bullying, 3) email spam, 4) phishing, 5) identity theft. Breaches in cyber security have become a severe danger to world security and the economy, compromising essential infrastructure and wreaking havoc on company performance, resulting in significant cognitive property loss. It is a sad reality that cybercrime cases have witnessed a steady spike. India has witnessed a significant increase in cases of cyber fraud and various cyber-related incidents in the last three years. The present study was done to assess the prevailing cyber practices among adults from Thiruvalla, Kerala. Methods: The present cross-sectional study was conducted among 340 adults in Thiruvalla, Kerala from January to June, and 2022. A semi-structured questionnaire was used to elicit information from the study participants after obtaining consent. The quantitative data collected was analysed using the software statistical package for social sciences. The results have been presented as tables and charts showing frequencies and percentages. Results: 133 out of the 350 study participants (38%) believed that it was important to be aware of cyber security risks in general while 52% (182) of the study participants considered cyber security awareness to be the only solution to the existing online scams. Conclusions: Widespread awareness campaigns are necessary to improve the cyber awareness of the community and thereby improve their cyber practices. Keywords: Adults, Cyber practices, Cyber security, Kerala Department of Community Medicine, Believers Church Medical College Hospital, Kuttapuzha, Tiruvalla, Kerala, India Received: 23 October 2022 Revised: 05 December 2022 Accepted: 07 December 2022 *Correspondence: Dr. Shaliet Rose Sebastian, E-mail: drshalietrs@gmail.com Copyright: © the author(s), publisher and licensee Medip Academy. This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License, which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. DOI: https://dx.doi.org/10.18203/2394-6040.ijcmph20223550