Abstract
As cyber threats increasingly exploit user-level vulnerabilities, understanding the behavioural factors influencing cybersecurity practices has become essential. This study investigates the determinants of strong cyber hygiene behaviour among students across educational backgrounds using a CHAID (Chi-squared Automatic Interaction Detection) model. The aim was to identify combinations of demographic and digital behavior variables—such as education level, platform trust, usability, and credibility—that predict high cyber hygiene. The CHAID analysis revealed that Trust in Platform Security was the most significant predictor, surpassing traditional indicators like education level. Secondary splits included Ease of Use and Platform Credibility, which compensated for low trust in some segments, highlighting the behavioural complexity of cybersecurity practices. Contrary to common assumptions, higher educational attainment did not guarantee better cyber hygiene, suggesting that behavioural segmentation offers more actionable research than demographic profiling alone. Age also emerged as a contextual factor, shaping responses through generational digital familiarity. These findings emphasize the need for cybersecurity awareness programs that are behaviourally informed and customized based on users’ trust perceptions and digital interaction patterns. The study offers both theoretical contributions to the discourse on cyber behavior and practical recommendations for designing user-centered cybersecurity education and digital platforms. Future research should address the study’s limitations by incorporating qualitative findings and broader digital literacy variables to further unpack the nuanced drivers of cyber hygiene.
Keywords: CHAID Analysis, Cybersecurity Education, Cyber Hygiene, Digital Trust, Platform Usability