Are UK parents empowered to act on their cybersecurity education responsibilities?

Prior, Suzanne and Renaud, Karen (2023) Are UK parents empowered to act on their cybersecurity education responsibilities? In: HCI International 2024, 2024-06-29 - 2024-07-04. (In Press)

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Abstract

The UK government responsibilizes its citizens to take care of their own cybersecurity. They provide extensive advice but no other direct support beyond a portal to report cybercrimes. Responsibilization works best when citizens are empowered to act in accordance with their responsibilities. Now, consider that UK parents, as part of their parental role, are probably also responsibilized for educating their children about cybersecurity. The question is whether they are sufficiently empowered to fulfill their cybersecurity education responsibilities. Our studies found that UK parents felt it was right and proper to be assigned the responsibility for educating their children about cybersecurity. However, they generally did not possess up-to-date cybersecurity knowledge nor benefit from UK government-provided cyber-related advice. Hence, they are responsibilized but not empowered to educate their children about cybersecurity.