Information security behaviour of smartphone users. An empirical study on the students of university of Dhaka, Bangladesh

DOIhttps://doi.org/10.1108/ILS-04-2018-0029
Date09 July 2018
Pages444-455
Published date09 July 2018
AuthorShohana Nowrin,David Bawden
Subject MatterLibrary & information science,Librarianship/library management,Library & information services
Information security
behaviour of smartphone users
An empirical study on the students of
university of Dhaka, Bangladesh
Shohana Nowrin and David Bawden
Department of Library and Information Science, City,
University of London, London, UK
Abstract
Purpose The purpose of thisstudy is to understand the information securitybehaviour of the students of
the University of Dhaka, Bangladesh in the use of smartphones. Bangladesh is well-known as one of the
largest and fastestgrowing mobile phone market of the world, and the Universityof Dhaka is also the largest
students assembly in the country in terms of usingsmartphones. Besides, the rising use of smartphones is
also likelyto be typical of other sub-continent countries.
Design/methodology/approach To gain an understanding of the informationsecurity behaviours of
the studentsof University of Dhaka, Bangladesh, a quantitativesurvey method was deployed in revealingthe
approachesof the students towards avoidance of various securityrisks. A total of 356 students participated in
the study, although eight of the participants did not carry out the full survey because they do not use
smartphones.The collected data were analysed with suitablestatistical methods.
Findings The ndings of the study reveal that students of University of Dhaka possess a moderately
secure behaviour in terms of avoiding harmfulbehaviours, using useful phone settings and add-on utilities
and disaster recovery.This study also shows that the students do not behave securely in all aspects of using
different security features in the same way, and it also varies somewhat according to gender, and between
faculties andinstitutions. The university library is recommendedas the focus for instruction and guidance on
the best practicein smartphone use by students.
Research limitations/implications The study does not include any other universities of Bangladesh
except University of Dhaka due to the shortage of time. A further study can be conducted to gain an
understanding in a greater extent by including students of the other universities and perhaps also other countries.
Originality/value This is the rst paper in Bangladesh related to the study of information security
behaviourregarding the use of smartphone among the student of University of Dhaka.This study will help to
raise information securityawareness among the students and encourage the authorities to adopt appropriate
strategies and policies to resolve information security risks in the use of smartphones. Specially, the
university library can take some initiativesin this case, such as providing advice, seminars, workshops and
lecturesto make the students aware about security issues.
Keywords Bangladesh, Academic libraries, Students, Information behaviour, Information security,
Smartphones
Paper type Research paper
Introduction
The smartphone is considered a very useful instrument for communication in this digital
age. Apart from mere call or text facilities, smartphones offer a wide range of computing
capabilities and connectivityoptions through usage of various forms of mobileapplications.
The usage of these applications has a great impact on the behaviour of smartphone users
(Alfawareh and Jusoh, 2014). Currently, students use smartphone applicationsfor a diverse
ILS
119,7/8
444
Received15 April 2018
Revised14 May 2018
Accepted19 May 2018
Informationand Learning Science
Vol.119 No. 7/8, 2018
pp. 444-455
© Emerald Publishing Limited
2398-5348
DOI 10.1108/ILS-04-2018-0029
The current issue and full text archive of this journal is available on Emerald Insight at:
www.emeraldinsight.com/2398-5348.htm

To continue reading

Request your trial

VLEX uses login cookies to provide you with a better browsing experience. If you click on 'Accept' or continue browsing this site we consider that you accept our cookie policy. ACCEPT