RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN THE BEHAVIOR OF KENYAN SMARTPHONE USERS AND AWARENESS OF INFORMATION SECURITY PRACTICES

Abstract

People are becoming increasingly dependable on their phones to accomplish day to day activities, such as getting information and money transfer. Yet, smartphones hold a lot of personal information that can cause tremendous effect on user privacy and security, if exposed. Consequently, there is a need to understand users’ awareness and behavior when using their mobile phones. Unfortunately, most smartphone users in Kenya lack a proper mobile awareness model which can be used to raise and maintain awareness about information security. This study explored the awareness level of 393 Kenyan smartphone users on information security threats that face them and the behavioural choices that leaves them vulnerable. An online structured survey was used to investigate the relationship between the behavior of Kenyan smartphone users and awareness of information security practices. The results showed that users are aware of smartphone threats yet they continue to make wrong choices that leaves them vulnerable to attacks. An awareness model might improve security

awareness and hence reduce the amount of risk associated with use of smartphones.