As the pandemic compelled students to adopt remote learning, their online safety became a growing concern, according to CyberSecurity Malaysia (CSM), the national cybersecurity specialist agency under the Ministry of Communications and Multimedia Malaysia.
This required a fresh baseline study to assess the level of online safety awareness among students and parents, says CSM CEO, Datuk Dr Amirudin Abdul 
“The exponential rise of online activities, particularly among students, could potentially put them at risk of cybersecurity threats.
“It’s critical, therefore, to develop a digitally resilient generation that is capable of defending itself against cyberattacks,” he says.
The initial baseline study, conducted in 2016 and involving 9,158 respondents, revealed that most students owned devices from the age of seven, mostly smartphones (60.63%) and tablets (42.09%).
And that 60% of the students accessed the Internet at least twice or three times a week.
However, cyberattacks have become more prevalent since then, says Prof Dr Suhaidi Hassan, chairperson of the InterNetWorks Research Laboratory at the School of Computing in Universiti Utara Malaysia, Kedah, and one of the researchers involved in the second baseline study.
“We needed to determine how well-informed the students are so that the relevant agencies could develop the appropriate content to raise the level of cybersecurity awareness,” he explains.
The study indicated that a majority of primary school pupils spent an average of one to four hours on the Internet a day.
Other than spending time on their studies, they also watched videos, listened to music, browsed the Web and interacted on social media.
WhatsApp and YouTube were their preferred services, whereas Discord, Twitter and Snapchat ranked lowly among the students.
For online safety awareness, the study focused on seven components. Interestingly, over 90% of the mainstream schoolchildren were aware of the perils of phishing, risks linked with online transactions and the significance of securing their online data.
However, they didn’t fare so well when queried about interacting with online strangers (73%), their cyber knowledge (51%) and password management (50%).
And they scored the lowest when it came to awareness of inappropriate content (32%).
To drill down further, Suhaidi says the pupils were evaluated on their perceptions of playing games with sexual elements, posting content that could be considered embarrassing, and watching videos with abusive language.
“These are some examples of inappropriate content kids can find on the Internet.
“Generally, 2% to 14% of the mainstream students think it is acceptable to engage with these types of content, while a majority, 85% to 97%, of the PPKI students felt that engaging with such content was not acceptable,” he says.
Being young and eager to explore and try new things, they are likely to lack awareness about social media and Internet security, he adds.
“Most of them are careless even though they spend a large part of their daily life on the Internet and social media. They are not concerned until they become targets,” he says.
Meanwhile, at secondary school level, 37.1% of mainstream students spent five to eight hours online a day, while 36.5% of PPKI students spent one to four hours.
Though the secondary school pupils were aware that it was best not to engage with strangers online, their knowledge of phishing attacks, inappropriate content, risks associated with online transactions and password management was described as “worrying”.
Digital dangers
The study also described the types of dangers that students faced online, such as online sex solicitation, which 3.6% of primary school students and 2.1% of PPKI primary pupils faced.
Those aged between 10 and 12 shared that their online accounts had been hacked by strangers, and they had received lewd messages and inappropriate images from unknown people.
Male students, according to the report, were more likely to receive unwanted interactions online.
Based on interviews with the pupils, Suhaidi says this could be largely attributed to the types of activities that students in the various age groups participated in.
“For example, almost 70% of male students play online games on a frequent basis and they mostly lean towards massively multiplayer online role-playing games,” he says.
These games feature social elements that allow players to interact with others, says Prof Suhaidi, and the students are likely to encounter people from different age groups.
“By playing these games, the students could have met strangers who shared inappropriate content,” he says, adding that their communications may extend beyond the gaming platform.
He claims that students who have their own social media accounts and use WhatsApp or other messaging apps may have also received indecent content from friends and relatives.
“Another explanation could be that they accidentally clicked on a link on a website with random pop-ups, which led them to this kind of content,” he says.
Meanwhile, the main threat to secondary school level students, according to the study, are phishing attacks, as 58.5% of mainstream pupils and 31.1% of the PPKI pupils have fallen victim to them.
It is one of the most challenging cybersecurity threats to tackle, says Prof Suhaidi, as attackers constantly develop new techniques to target their victims.
Apart from taking advantage of technical vulnerabilities, attackers are also using psychology to appeal to a person’s emotions.
“For example, individuals are more likely to click on a link in an email if they think it’s from an authority, even though the email is fake,” he explains.
He adds that attackers are looking to steal sensitive information to impersonate or cyberbully their victims.
Upper secondary school students (Form 4 and Form 5), and especially males, are more likely to experience cyberattacks and, in the process, get their devices infected with malware.
“The analysis indicated that there is a significant relationship between the duration of Internet usage and cyberattacks like hacking, phishing, malware and impersonation.
“Based on this, we could say students are more exposed to those types of cyberattacks as they spend more time on the Internet,” he says.
Teaching tech
The study calls for improvement in four areas, beginning with increasing awareness on online content that’s not suitable.
Amirudin says inappropriate content includes inaccurate information that encourages unlawful or dangerous behaviour, and information or images that could upset children such as violent content or adult material.
Without supervision and guidance, Amirudin says, children could end up unintentionally encountering such information online.
The other two aspects that deserve attention are online transactions – Amirudin says nearly a quarter of children in the study bought games or films not intended for their age and could have exposed themselves to fraud – and increasing digital literacy.
Amirudin feels education is key in helping students develop a better understanding of technology and other online tools that are beneficial.
CSM and the Educational Resource & Technology Division (BSTP), under the Education Ministry, have developed the National Cyber Security Awareness Module for this purpose.
“This module is based on our first baseline study released in 2016,” he says.
Meanwhile, CyberSAFE, an initiative to highlight the various issues users are likely to face online, has already been introduced in schools, and CSM has developed a training programme called Certified Cybersecurity Awareness Educator (CCAsE) for teachers.“This programme is meant to raise awareness among teachers on staying safe and maintaining good conduct online,” he says.
Parents too have to play a role in helping children identify threats and harmful content.
“Parents can encourage their children to share their favourite websites and online experiences in a safe atmosphere,” says Prof Suhaidi, adding that it’s recommended to develop a family policy around Internet use.
Cybersecurity awareness among schoolchildren, he continues, should be strengthened to beef up their resilience and responsibilities towards others in the digital world.
It is also vital that schools partner with counsellors to conduct intervention programmes for students who are addicted to the Internet or have traumatic disorders due to being cyberattack victims, he adds.
Another area where the students need to improve is password management, according to Amirudin, as they are not adopting the best principles and practices to prevent unauthorised access to their accounts.
“Frankly, poor password management is due to laziness or because some find it daunting,” he says, adding that it’s important that the password be changed if the user suspects it has been compromised.
Pushing for policies
Moving forward, Amirudin says among the immediate measures that he hopes to see are schools organising month-long cybersecurity programmes involving both teachers and students.
“Educators play a crucial role in guiding students towards smart online choices. Teaching students about Internet risks, as well as ethical responsibilities, could prevent them from becoming victims or feeling the need to victimise others online.
“Although technology presents challenges, it is critical for educators to embrace it. When used correctly, tech could improve teaching efficiency, provide an engaging learning experience and develop students’ digital literacy skills,” he says.
Prof Suhaidi recommends that cyber wellness programmes include counsellors with forums and content tailored to educate students to be more responsible users, adding that the use of gamification features and edutainment apps could make it more attractive to kids.
Relevant authorities like CSM have to engage stakeholders, he says, as they have an active role to play in addressing cybersecurity awareness and developing policies related to cybersecurity and digital citizenship.
“This baseline study will also assist in the development of Malaysia’s National Cyber Ethics Initiative (NCEI) by the government, which is meant to instil noble values, good conduct, self-discipline and a sense of responsibility among digital technology users in Malaysia,” says Prof Suhaidi.
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