Cybersecurity Policy Compliance in Higher Education: A Theoretical Framework

Abstract HEIs Higher education institutions (HEIs) are open in their nature, decentralized, rich in population and private data, home to some ground-breaking research and innovations. They attract quite a substantial threat and cyberattacks due to their heavy reliance on the Internet. However, there is poor cybersecurity culture and low awareness that are motivated by generational differences that are characterized by “digital natives” and “digital residents” and gaps in technology savviness impacting cybersecurity compliance in specific higher education environments. The understanding of cybersecurity and organizational culture, compliance theory and protected motivated theory (PMT) respectively is key to achieving cybersecurity compliance.