Research problem
Cybercrime is a growing concern in the contemporary world. Because of the high pace of digitalization, there are numerous loopholes and vulnerabilities in systems used by attackers and malefactors. This sort of illegal activity is called cybercrime and acquires the top priority today for project managers responsible for the functioning of a certain organization, the achievement of goals, and further development (Diffee and Datta, 2018). For educational institutions of UAE, the problem is also topical as the frequency of cyber-attacks grows because of the shift of priorities towards online education. However, there is still a little understanding of the scope of the issue in the UAE, and the effects cybercrime has on teachers or educators (Matsumoto, 2019). Additionally, there are no clear guidelines on how to act under new conditions and remain capable of preserving the high efficiency of educational establishments in the UAE (Imranuddin, 2017). Finally, there is no clear vision of the effective cybersecurity model that can be employed by teachers working in the sector, which means that they remain helpless (Philip and Salimath, 2018). For this reason, the research problem is the gap in knowledge about cybercrime in educational institutions of the UAE and the need for improved security measures to resist a new threat.
Research questions
The scope of the theme preconditions the introduction of the following research questions:
- What are the effects of cybercrime on teachers and changes in their functioning preconditioned by the growing importance of this concern in the context of UAE?
- What guidelines and cybercrime model can be adopted by project managers to address and minimize the effects of cybercrime in the UAE educational institutions?
The given research questions are linked to the objectives formulated above and help to acquire information needed to examine the role of cybercrime in contemporary society. Additionally, the presented research questions will guide the research project and ensure that all important pieces of evidence will be collected and processed appropriately.
Research Aim
The research aims to examine the effects of cybercrime in the UAE educational institutions. The research will propose guidelines that can be adopted by project managers to minimize the effects of cybercrime in the UAE educational institutions. Moreover, the study will propose a comprehensive cybersecurity model that can be used to mitigate cybercrime attacks in the UAE educational establishments.
Research objectives
- Review the literature to outline the negative effects of cybercrime on the educational establishments and teachers;
- Ascertain how malefactors can use existing vulnerabilities and loopholes to steal data or damage teaching faculty in the educational institutions of the UAE;
- Establish the effects of cybercrime on teachers and changes in their functioning preconditioned by the growing importance of this concern in the context of educational establishments in the UAE;
- Propose a cybersecurity model that will be include cybercrime guidelines and key determinants that can be used by UAE educational sector to manage and mitigate cyberattacks
Research Statement
The diversity in the negative effects of cybercrime on project managers presupposes the need for a specific response to manage the problem. The poor understanding of the problem and the absence of tools available to project managers precondition the deterioration of the situation (Matsumoto, 2019). Under these conditions, the creation and implementation of specific guidelines, along with the comprehensive cybersecurity model can reduce cybercrime rates in educational establishments of the UAE. Managers will acquire strong tools and strategies to respond to the growing diversity of threats.
Depended variable
The dependent variable in the research is the cybercrime rates in the educational establishments of the UAE. As far as there is a need for an in-depth investigation of how different models work, it is vital to measure any changes in the state of cybercrime and its rate to conclude about the effectiveness of a particular measure.
Independent variables
The guidelines offered to project managers outlining the safe behaviors and practices and the comprehensive cybersecurity model are the independent variables of the study. It is critical to determine the effectiveness of these measures in struggling against cybercrime and resisting threats associated with this factor. For this reason, such factors are viewed as independent variables, and their influence should be measured.
Research hypothesis
The negative effects of cybercrime on the teaching faculty in the educational institutions of the UAE can be managed by using specific guidelines and cybercrime model.
Novelty of the study
The project has both practical and theoretical novelty. First of all, there is an attempt to create relevant and effective interventions that would help to alter the situation in the education domain of the UAE and provide managers with tools that are needed to resist cybercrime. The establishment of the comprehensive model can be viewed as a novel approach for the sector as it considers all existing problems and their diversity, which increases every year.
At the same time, the theoretical novelty of the research comes from several factors. Initially, there is an attempt to analyze the problem of cybercrime that effects the educational scope of the UAE. Previous attempts were focused on the analysis of the area in general and universal ways to resist it. However, their effectiveness might vary because of the accuracies of the working environment its diversities. For this reason, the focus on the scope of education with its own characteristics is vital for the creation of an improved vision of the problem and generation of the enhanced capability to resist it. Altogether, the high practical and theoretical novelty of the research justifies the choice of the topic and proves the need for further research in the given scope.
Operational definitions
Conceptual framework
For the research, an existing framework offered by previous research paper is being used. The given model states that cybersecurity is a complex concept consisting of multiple factors. To attain success, it is vital to consider legal, technical, organizational measures, capacity building, and cooperation (ABI Research, n.d.). Building the model for the research, the technical and organizational measures are considered as they can be impacted by the proposed variables. Guidelines on cybersecurity and cybersecurity model affect the organizational elements of a unity and its technological components:
Reference List
ABI Research (n.d.) Global cybersecurity index. Conceptual framework. Web.
Dasgupta, D., Akhtar, Z. and Sen, S. (2020) ‘Machine learning in cybersecurity: a comprehensive survey’, The Journal of Defense Modeling and Simulation.
Diffee, E. and Datta, P. (2018) ‘Cybersecurity: the three-headed Janus’, Journal of Information Technology Teaching Cases, 8(2), pp. 161–171.
Imranuddin, M. (2017) A study of cyber laws in the United Arab Emirates. Master Thesis. Rochester Institute of Technology. Web.
Matsumoto, A. (2019) ‘Literature review on education reform in the UAE’, International Journal of Educational Reform, 28(1), pp. 4–23.
Philip, J. and Salimath, M. S. (2018) ‘A value proposition for cyberspace management in organizations’, Business Information Review, 35(3), pp. 122–127.
Zhuang et al. (2015) ‘A theory of cyber attacks. A step towards analyzing MTD systems’, 2nd ACM Workshop on Moving Target Defense, pp. 1-10.