Determination of cyber security awareness of public personnel

The main purpose of this thesis is to determine the cyber security awareness levels of public personnel and to evaluate their practical applications in this field. The research was conducted with a total of 302 public personnel participants and an analysis was conducted on six different dimensions (confidentiality, control/ownership, integrity, authenticity, accessibility and utility) using the Cyber Security Scale (CSS). IBM SPSS 28 statistical package program was used to analyze the data obtained in the study and various statistical tests were applied on the data set. In order to increase the reliability and validity of the research, frequency and cross-tabular analysis were performed with the help of descriptive statistics, number and percentage values for categorical parameters, and mean, standard deviation, minimum and maximum values for numerical variables. In order to evaluate the distribution characteristics of the numerical variables, normality assumptions were examined with skewness and kurtosis values. The findings revealed that the data showed a normal distribution. The findings of the research show that the cyber security awareness levels of public personnel are generally sufficient, but more awareness-raising activities are needed in the benefit dimension. It was determined that the majority of the participants were male and between the ages of 26-35. In terms of education level, it was determined that the majority of the participants were bachelor's degree graduates and their professional periods generally ranged between 6-10 years. When the daily internet usage time of the participants was analyzed, it was seen that more than half of them use the internet 3-4 hours a day and use the internet intensively for mobile banking, e-government services and e-commerce purposes. When the effect of gender on cybersecurity behaviors was examined, it was found that male participants took cybersecurity measures more actively and participated in trainings on this subject more frequently. Factor analysis results reveal that the six-dimensional structure of the scale is compatible with the data set and accurately reflects the theoretical background. In the reliability analysis, it was determined that the Cronbach Alpha coefficient was at the desired level (0.7 and above). As a result, it is understood that the cyber security awareness levels of public personnel are generally sufficient, but more awareness-raising activities should be carried out in certain dimensions (especially the benefit dimension). As a result of the research, it is evaluated that it will contribute to the development of cyber security training programs and policies and will help to create strategies to increase the cyber security awareness of public personnel.