Abstract:
Internet users face some problems and are particularly vulnerable to unwanted
third parties due to depend on the internet for their use. Especially, the students
who are studying in higher institutions are surfing the internet for many purposes
without considering safe browsing. Evidence of literature and the results of the
pilot study motivated the researchers to assess the levels of internet browsing
security awareness among undergraduates of Rajarata University of Sri Lanka and
to suggest security measures to overcome internet vulnerabilities. Data were
collected from 300 undergraduates within six faculties using a structured
questionnaire. The questionnaire was aimed on awareness of students in terms of
three variables including knowledge of malware, use of strong password, and
knowledge of third-party security towards the awareness of internet browsing
security. The collected data were analysed using descriptive statistics including
frequencies, measure of central tendency and measure of dispersion used to
measure the way of responses. The hypotheses were tested using correlation
analysis and regression analysis. All the hypotheses were accepted while
supporting 52 percent explanatory power of independent variables on awareness
of internet browsing security. Then the researchers could identify and verify the
level of awareness regarding the secured browsing behaviour of the
undergraduates that are not atsatisfactory level. Further, based on the findings, the
researchers recommended that the university should organize programs to increase
the level of knowledge of undergraduates about safe internet browsing. First, it
should be started by the faculty level and should track the progress of
undergraduate safe browsing behaviour while expanding the study over to other
government Universities in Sri Lanka.
