Date of Award

12-2024

Document Type

Project

Degree Name

Master of Science in Cybersecurity and Analytics

Department

College of Business and Public Administration

First Reader/Committee Chair

Shayo, Conrad

Abstract

Fifty percent (50%) of youth between the ages of 8 and 17 have been discovered to use the internet and social media services on a daily basis. This (50%) also demonstrates the rising issues between digital footprints, cyberbullying, and cybercrime rates against these types of youth. It was discovered that youths, between the ages of 8 and 17 years old, are savvy with technology, based on gender, grade, and socioeconomic status, but also lack the awareness of their own digital footprint and how to manage it. Researchers have discovered that issuing cybersecurity awareness school lesson plans and parental controls may be crucial to combat against cybercrimes, cyberbullying, and the lack of digital footprint awareness.

Digital footprint management and digital awareness research are normally found in students from higher education and regular citizens. Therefore, this project will answer these following research questions to help research in the field of youths: (Q1) How do social media posts shape a youths’ digital footprint and how can it be an asset or liability in education? (Q2) How does digital footprint management amongst the youth affect their knowledge to cyberbullying and their awareness of it? (Q3) What strategies can youth use to protect their digital identity and become aware of digital footprint management? The research done in this project will answer these research questions by assessing a literature review and discovering case studies of strategies the youth can use to become aware of digital footprint management.

The findings are: (Q1) Youth were aware about how their own digital footprint can become a liability for them in their education and careers. This case study demonstrated the assistance of parental guidance to the youths’ knowledge of their digital footprints. (Q2) Digital footprints, cybersecurity, and cyberbullying all had a connection with each other. Areas of further study for this finding discovered that searching more students in primary and secondary schools, ages 8–17, to characterize the social learning theory more, will allow to find out how students learn and observe online behavior, causing cyberbullying. (Q3) Students can use the following strategies, such as reducing their digital footprint, decreasing internet usage, and learning about digital footprints in schools to manage their digital footprint. These several strategies the youth can use to protect their digital footprint and manage it may become limited. This is due to the lack of cybersecurity professionals teaching these students lessons, schools not funding classes regarding digital footprints and cybersecurity, and youths not understanding the consequences of digital footprints. Areas of further study would be researching the development of educational factors, such as lesson plans, courses, and assemblies, in relation to digital footprints, cyberbullying, and cybersecurity.

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