Security awareness within the cyberspace – results of the 2020 national survey among the population

Abstract

Aim: The goal of this study is to present the importance of cybersecurity in the present-day Hungarian society and to show how social demographic factors and certain aspects of security awareness influence this. This goal is achieved by presenting the results of the national survey conducted in 2020 by the National Cyber Security Center.
Methodology: This paper presents the findings of the Hungarian survey conducted among the population. By processing, analysing and comparing the results of the survey with the relevant literature, it presents a summary regarding security awareness and safety habits.
Findings: After evaluating the completed questionnaires, among many things, it can be stated that regarding gender distribution males are more likely to read the latest IT news and update their password regularly. These habits are also considerably more favourable for those having a higher education. Because of security reasons the members of the older generation are the ones who are among the first to do updates, and to utilize systems and applications that do this automatically. According to this survey females share less personal information about themselves which could be used to create a fake profile.
Value: The evaluation and analysis of the survey conducted by the National Cyber Security Center can be considered a true value, and is an essential basis for similar surveys in the future, for improving the national cybersecurity strategy, and for developing interventions and action plans for achieving the specified goals of this strategy.