earticle

영어

As reliance on information and communication becomes widespread, a variety of information dysfunctions such as hacking, viruses, and the infringement of personal information are also occurring. Korean adolescents are especially exposed to an environment in which they are experiencing information dysfunction. In addition, youth cybercrimes are steadily occurring. To prevent cybercrime and the damage caused by information dysfunction, information security practices are essential. Accordingly, the purpose of this study is to discuss the factors affecting the information security practices of Korean youths, considering information security education, perceived severity, and perceived vulnerability as leading factors of the theory of planned behavior. A questionnaire survey was administered to 118 middle and high school students. Results of the hypothesis test show that information security education affects perceived behavior control, and perceived severity affects attitude. Subjective norms, information security attitudes, and perceived behavioral control were found to influence adolescents' practices of information security. However, perceived vulnerabilities did not affect youths' information security attitudes. This study confirms that information security education can help youths to practice information security. In other words, information security education is important, and it is a necessary element in the information curriculum of contemporary youth. However, perceived vulnerability to youth information security threats did not affect information security attitudes. Consequently, we suggest that it is necessary to strengthen the contents of the information security education for Korean youths.