Understanding phishing awareness among students in tertiary institutions and setting-up defensive mechanisms against the attackers

Abstract

The average loss by companies to phishing in 2021 is $14.8 million, more than triple what it was in 2015. That translates to hundreds of billions of dollars in total losses from phishing attacks on global businesses, and the vulnerability of these attacks is every day increasing, particularly among the younger generation less than 40 years of age. This paper begins with a background exposition on phishing trends and highlights previous findings concerning users' susceptibility to phishing attacks. It however explores the term Phishing itself, its kinds, types and some basic measures necessary for defense against phishing activities. The research was employed with a major focus on the email aspect of phishing. Alongside the website aspect of phishing, the certificate of a website was also considered. The purpose of this study was to identify the level of student awareness related to specific phishing tactics. Findings revealed that while students are unlikely to provide personal information in response to an email/SMS request, they can be easily tricked by numerous other tactics. This paper reports the findings of the study in addition to listing suggested points to employ for creating phishing awareness.