Understanding Cyber Safety Behavior Among Teenagers in Ghana

The development of mobile technology and the
expansion of internet access has raised concerns about the
cyber safety of teenagers in cyber space. The purpose of this
study is to investigate the cyber safety practices, cyber
security awareness and teenagers’ experiences with cyberattacks
in Ghana. This study adopted a descriptive survey
research approach and targeted some public senior high
schools in of Ghana. Questionnaire was the main
instrument for data collection and it was used to collect
data from 153 senior high school students who were
conveniently sampled from eight (8) senior high schools in
the Ashanti region of Ghana. The results showed that 74.5
percent of teenagers were aware of cybersecurity, 8.7
percent had been involved in cybercrime and their main
motivation was either to make money and/or for fun. On
the preventive measures against cyber-attacks, 42 percent
said they changed their passwords whilst only 1.8 percent
said they reported to the police. The cyber-attacks that
teenagers often experience are malware attacks and
phishing attacks. The study has revealed that these attacks
are common among teenagers because they often open
unknown email attachments and they fail to regularly
update their antiviruses. It is therefore recommended that
teenagers be more preventive than corrective in their
approach toward cyber-attack. They need to periodically
change their passwords and update their antiviruses. The
security services should also be more proactive and
apprehend perpetrators of cyber-attacks so that victims
can have the confidence to report cyber cases to them. It is
only in this way that the issue of online crime can be
addressed effectively in Ghana.
Keywords – Cyber Safety; Internet; Security; Awareness;
Cyber-Attack