Prioritizing cybersecurity education: A needs assessment of Thai student digital behaviors and security competencies

Undergraduate university students are particularly susceptible to cyberattacks; however, increased awareness does not always translate into protective actions. To close this gap in cybersecurity behavior (CSB), this study identified priority needs for educational intervention among Thai undergraduate university students across six key dimensions: password (CSB-PW), social media (CSB-SM), application (CSB-AP), email (CSB-EM), mobile device security (CSB-MD), and security incident reporting (CSB-IR). A sample of 190 second-year Thai undergraduates completed a validated 60-item needs assessment questionnaire. Data were analyzed using SPSS 29/R 4.3 descriptive statistics, dependent-samples t-tests, and the modified priority needs index (PNImodified). Results revealed a statistically significant gap (p < .001) between students’ current behavior (mean [M] = 3.303, standard deviation [SD] = 1.018, competence) and their desired behavior (M = 4.471, SD = 0.788, proficiency). The overall priority needs index was 0.354. Dimension rankings from highest to lowest priority were mobile device security (PNImodified = 0.371), email security (PNImodified = 0.366), security incident reporting (PNImodified = 0.364), application security (PNImodified = 0.363), social media security (PNImodified = 0.359), and password security (PNImodified = 0.298). These results raise doubts about the effectiveness of standard cybersecurity classes that teach how to manage passwords and imply that future educational interventions should focus on securing email and mobile devices through self-efficacy approaches.