AWARENESS OF CYBERSECURITY AND ITS IMPACT ON INFORMATION STORAGE IN THE UNIVERSITY LIBRARIES IN SOUTH EAST NIGERIA

Abstract

The study examined the Cybersecurity awareness among Librarians for effective storage of information in university libraries in Southeastern Nigeria. The study specifically sought to identify the various Cybersecurity threats in University libraries in Southeastern Nigeria; assess the Cybersecurity competency of librarians for effective information storage in University libraries in Southeastern Nigeria; ascertain the extent to which the Cybersecurity competency of librarians contribute to effective information storage in university libraries in Southeastern Nigeria; identify the challenges affecting the acquisition of relevant Cybersecurity awareness among librarians for effective storage of information in university libraries in Southeastern Nigeria; and to proffer strategies to enhance the acquisition of relevant Cybersecurity awareness among librarians for effective storage of information in university libraries in Southeastern Nigeria. Descriptive survey research design was adopted for the study. The population of the study consists of 478 librarians in the 10 state and federal government owned universities in Southeast, Nigeria. These ten universities were derived as one federal and one state university were chosen each from the five states in the southeast. A sample of 332 representing 70% of the total population was selected using proportionate stratified sampling technique. A researcher’s constructed structured questionnaire was used for the study. Due to ASUU strike, online questionnaire was shared. Data collected was coded into SPSS version 23 and analyzed using frequency count, mean and standard deviation. The findings revealed that, the major cybersecurity threats in university libraries were hacking, impersonation, interception of electronic message, unauthorized access to information resources, computer virus among others. The cybersecurity competency among librarians for effective information storage is low, which is due to inadequate training of librarians on cybersecurity measures, substandard technological infrastructures, lack of cybersecurity policy framework in university libraries among others. The study recommended among other things that, librarians should be trained and re-trained on cybersecurity measures, most especially on area of detection and prevention. University library management should formulate cybersecurity policy framework among others.