Thematic Analysis of Cybersecurity Awareness Strategies and Approaches

With the continuous digitalization of all societies, the skills to securely access and use digital systems are crucial for everyone. This is recognized in both research and practice where researchers search for efficient ways to raise cybersecurity awareness (CSA), and both organizations and states are launching initiatives to build aware and skilled populations. An emerging theme in recent research is that of target group adaption and it is suggested that CSA initiatives need to be tailored to the needs and preferences of different groups of recipients. Nevertheless, target group adaption is an underdeveloped aspect of CSA and research indicates that current initiatives fail to address the diverse needs of different populations. This research investigates how national-level CSA initiatives within the European Union are adapted to various target groups through an analysis of member state national cybersecurity strategies. The results show that EU member states acknowledge the need for target group adaption and that a focus on vulnerable groups such as children and seniors is common. However, how to adapt to those groups remains unresolved in both the strategies and related research.