A False Sense Of Security: Enhancing Resilience Against Cyberattack Through An Improved Security Awareness Model

Abstract

Cybersecurity has become a crucial concern in today‘s increasingly digital world, especially for students who rely on online platforms for education, communication, and personal activities. This thesis investigates the effectiveness of university cybersecurity programs in enhancing students‘ online safety practices, with a focus on the integration of both technological and practical applications. Advanced Persistent Threats (APTs) remain a persistent problem within the realm of cybersecurity. Heavy investment effort in security infrastructure and awareness leaves many organizations with a false sense of well-being, for their perceived cybersecurity resilience does not correspond with actual vulnerabilities. This study combines two prior research areas on cybersecurity perception and extends it by implementing Zero Trust Architecture (ZTA) and Artificial Intelligence-Based Threat Detection (AI-TD) tothe current model. Through extensive survey-based investigation, this study evaluates how these new variables impact the confidence towards cyber security in educational and corporate environments, providing valuable solutions to improve the existing cyber security frameworks. Moreover, this research examines the perspective of the faculty, students, IT administrators, and security professionals about the relevance and practical application of these interventions against any cyber threat.