Location
Kumasi, Ghana & Virtual
Start Date
6-8-2026 12:30 PM
End Date
6-8-2026 1:00 PM
Description
Mobile internet usage in Ghana has revolutionized communication, financial activities, and commercial operations, as Accra residents increasingly rely on mobile devices as their primary digital tool. Users face multiple cyber threats, including phishing, malware, and identity theft, as their online activity outpaces their cybersecurity knowledge. This study employs a qualitative case study design to examine how mobile internet users in Accra experience and respond to cyber threats. It draws on Protection Motivation Theory (PMT) and Technology Threat Avoidance Theory (TTAT) to explain how users’ threat perceptions, coping strategies, and contextual conditions shape their online safety behaviour. Data will be collected through semi-structured interviews with 15 to 25 purposively sampled participants and analysed using Braun and Clarke’s six-phase thematic analysis framework. The study follows Guba and Lincoln’s criteria for credibility, dependability, and confirmability, and adheres to Amdur and Bankert’s ethical principles for research involving human participants. The study is expected to reveal how users convert prior cyber threat experience into operational security practices, offering policymakers and digital literacy practitioners’ evidence to design cybersecurity interventions suited to Ghana’s expanding digital economy.
How Prior Exposure to Cyber Threats Shape Cyber Hygiene Practices Among Mobile Internet Users in Accra
Kumasi, Ghana & Virtual
Mobile internet usage in Ghana has revolutionized communication, financial activities, and commercial operations, as Accra residents increasingly rely on mobile devices as their primary digital tool. Users face multiple cyber threats, including phishing, malware, and identity theft, as their online activity outpaces their cybersecurity knowledge. This study employs a qualitative case study design to examine how mobile internet users in Accra experience and respond to cyber threats. It draws on Protection Motivation Theory (PMT) and Technology Threat Avoidance Theory (TTAT) to explain how users’ threat perceptions, coping strategies, and contextual conditions shape their online safety behaviour. Data will be collected through semi-structured interviews with 15 to 25 purposively sampled participants and analysed using Braun and Clarke’s six-phase thematic analysis framework. The study follows Guba and Lincoln’s criteria for credibility, dependability, and confirmability, and adheres to Amdur and Bankert’s ethical principles for research involving human participants. The study is expected to reveal how users convert prior cyber threat experience into operational security practices, offering policymakers and digital literacy practitioners’ evidence to design cybersecurity interventions suited to Ghana’s expanding digital economy.
