Students’ research. The Development of Cyber Security on the Individual Level – Are Lithuanians Well-Prepared to Protect Their Data?

Project idea

The goal of the project is to improve the student’s skills through an independent implementation of research and contribution to the existing research of cyber security concentrating on individual level. This research aims to analyse individual-level issues of cyber security, considering the institutional recommendations and citizens’ personal responsibility to protect their data following the prepared guidelines. Stressing the importance of the EU, when coordinating the PESCO initiative and a significant role of Lithuania in it, creating personal-level resilience to cyber threats is encouraged. Cooperating with officials of various public institutions and IT engineers, the researcher will seek to demonstrate the importance of the partnership between an individual and the state. Personal freedom online must be regarded responsibly in order to avoid even greater damage not only to the individual but also to the state.

The question this analysis raises is – to what extent does an individual is prone to listen to advice from the state and to follow them? To reach its aims, the research is split into three parts: 1) document and literature analysis, including the most important documents on cyber security and its strategy in Lithuania as well as the existing educational platforms; 2) two-level empirical analysis – semi-structured interviews with officials of various public institutions and IT specialists as well as an online survey seeking to find out the level of responsibility of Vilnius University students in the field of personal data protection; 3) provision of results and recommendations, combining technological and social fields of cyberspace. The results will be presented in a scientific conference and will become a source for further research as well as strengtheningcivil engagement, which could ensure safer online behavior.