Cybersecurity Awareness and Practices Among Teachers in Mahendranagar, Kanchanpur, Nepal: An Exploratory Protection Motivation Perspective

Abstract

This study examined cybersecurity awareness and practices among 165 school and higher education teachers in Mahendranagar, Kanchanpur, Nepal, using Protection Motivation Theory (PMT) as its theoretical framework. The study investigated teachers’ perceptions of cyber threats, online security behaviors, and cybersecurity practices in their professional roles. Data were collected using a 23-item structured questionnaire developed from the study objectives and reviewed by subject experts for content relevance and clarity. It contained Likert-scale and open-ended items. Quantitative data were analyzed using IBM SPSS Statistics, Version 26, through descriptive statistics, independent-samples t-tests, one-way analysis of variance, and Pearson correlation.

The findings indicate a clear gap between cybersecurity awareness and the use of secure cybersecurity practices. Although awareness of common threats such as phishing was relatively high (M = 3.82), use of key security measures such as Multi-Factor Authentication (MFA) (M = 2.42) and regular password rotation (M = 2.15) was limited. Statistical analysis showed that gender was not significantly associated with cybersecurity awareness (p > .05). However, cybersecurity practice scores differed significantly across institutional types, F(2, 162) = 8.21, p < .001, η² = .092. Tukey’s HSD post-hoc comparisons indicated that teachers from private/institutional schools reported significantly higher practice scores than those from government schools (p = .004). Moreover, teaching experience was weakly negatively correlated with secure digital practices (r = −.18, p = .021), suggesting that educators with greater teaching experience reported slightly lower levels of cybersecurity practice adoption. Limited awareness of the Electronic Transactions Act, 2063 (2008) (M = 2.10) also revealed a gap in cybersecurity-related legal knowledge.

Overall, the findings suggest that cybersecurity practices vary across institutions and have not been consistently integrated into teachers’ professional routines. To improve cybersecurity in educational settings, the findings support the adoption of Multi-Factor Authentication by educational institutions, the development of locally relevant cybersecurity law-awareness programs, and the appointment of dedicated cybersecurity coordinators to facilitate implementation of the National Cyber Security Policy, 2023.