Who Responds to Phishing Emails? An International Investigation of 15-Year-Olds Using Pisa Data

Bibliographic Data

ID8407703
AuthorsJohn Jerrim (0000-0001-5705-7954, UK Dementia Research Institute, corresponding author)
Year2023
Volume71
Issue6
Pages701-724
Publication date2023-11-02
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueBritish Journal of Educational Studies (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0007-1005 • E-ISSN: 1467-8527
PublisherInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/00071005.2023.2234456
OpenAlexW4386374096
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited18

Young people are facing an ever-increasing array of online dangers. One of the most common is receipt of a phishing email. This paper presents new evidence on the characteristics of young people most likely to respond to such emails. I find approximately one-in-seven 15-year-olds are at risk of responding to a phishing email, rising to one-in-five amongst those from disadvantaged socio-economic backgrounds. Such risks are particularly high amongst young people with low levels of cognitive skill. Unfortunately, students who are taught about the dangers posed by phishing emails at school are just as likely to take inappropriate actions following their receipt as their peers who have not. I thus conclude that greater emphasis and higher quality instruction needs to be provided to young people about the online risks they face, particularly to those from disadvantaged socio-economic backgrounds and low academic achievers

Disadvantaged · Internet privacy · Medical education · Phishing · Political science · Receipt · The Internet · World Wide Web · Computer Science · Media Influence and Politics · Medicine · Misinformation and Its Impacts · Psychology · Spam and Phishing Detection

Tools

Open DOIOpen Access