A citizen perspective of phishing in Hong Kong

In the world of today, Internet is a part of everything we do. Almost all appliances, from the cell phone to in some cases even freezers, are getting options to connect up to the Internet. But in this great, new world lurks dangers, as new threats are developed and sent out on the Internet at the same rate with which they are resolved. The people in charge of managing their networks, be it a parent in a household or an employee at a corporation, needs knowledge of how to tackle these threats in a productive manner. Where do these people gain their knowledge and what does the public –who are joining the connected world at a rapid rate – think about having to gain this knowledge by themselves? Perhaps only a few need the knowledge of cybersecurity, or perhaps it should be covered as part of the school curriculum? This work strives to find the general opinion on this problem in one of the world’s most technologically advanced cities: Hong Kong. Data of the citizens’ opinion on the subject was collected using a questionnaire handed out to citizens in multiple public places in Hong Kong. This research could greatly benefit governments or corporations who are in the pipeline of starting up courses for cybersecurity education or businesses in need of people with that knowledge. The result was then compiled and analysed at which point the results then showed that the citizens of Hong Kong feel exposed to the threats that phishing poses. However, the majority also believed themselves capable of defending against phishing attempts. The result also showed the citizens claimed to have an understanding of phishing and a general awareness about most of the threats. The majority of the participants also thought that the responsibility to educate the populace about phishing should lie with the school system. Future work based on this study could, for example, broaden the perspective of the survey and include different types of cybersecurity threats or use the same concept, only changing the focused threat to another