Inequality in digital skills and the adoption of online safety behaviors

Figures & data

Table 1. Summary statistics of socio-demographic, security skills and Internet-related variables.

	N	Range	Mean	Std. Deviation
Age	1834	17–93	46.91	16.20
Gender (Male)	1850	0–1	.46	.50
Completed years of education	1841	2–30	14.92	3.16
Started using the Internet more than six years ago	1807	0–1	.78	.41
Number of different devices through which users access the Internet	1804	0–4	2.93	.97
Frequency of use during past three months	1793	1–7	4.33	1.28
Frequency of using social networks (Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram)	1831	1–5	2.84	1.59
Frequency of seeking information (news, sports, economics, health)	1846	1–5	3.87	1.22
Frequency of making purchases over the Internet	1837	1–5	1.92	1.21
Frequency of carrying out banking transactions (i.e., checking account statements, banking operations)	1837	1–5	2.73	1.59
Know how to install antivirus software	1819	0–5	2.87	1.82
Know how to make antivirus updates	1769	0–5	3.00	1.84
Know how to set mobile phone security procedures	1771	0–5	2.86	1.77
Know how to use the browser on condition of anonymity	1827	0–5	1.74	1.68
Know how to delete browser activity history or cookies	1837	0–5	3.06	1.87
Know how to distinguish between executable and non-executable files	1826	0–5	2.67	1.80

Table 2. Summary statistics of antivirus behavior.

	Install or update antivirus software on PC	Install or update antivirus software on mobile devices	Scan files before opening them
Not at all	25.7% (443)	59.5% (948)	45.0% (776)
2	6.5% (112)	7.5% (119)	5.7% (98)
3	10.9% (187)	7.3% (117)	6.7% (116)
4	10.7% (184)	6.3% (100)	4.5% (78)
Frequency	37.1% (639)	15.5% (247)	14.9% (257)
Automatic updates	9.1% (157)	3.9% (62)	23.1% (399)
Total (valid cases)	100% (1722)	100% (1593)	100% (1724)

Table 3. Pearson correlations between the variables used in this study.

		1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12
1	Antivirus behavior	1.0
2	Age	−.13**	1.0
3	Gender (Male)	.17**	.02	1.0
4	Completed years of education	.05*	.23**	−.02	1.0
5	Number of different devices through which users access the Internet	.15**	−.23**	.02	.00	1.0
6	Started using the Internet more than six years ago	.20**	−.02	.11**	.23**	.11**	1.0
7	Frequency of use during past three months	.18**	−.18**	.06*	.06*	.10**	.23**	1.0
8	Frequency of using social networks	.13**	−.31**	−.10**	−.10**	.17**	.11**	.31**	1.0
9	Frequency of seeking information	.14**	−.03	−.01	.13**	.10**	.21**	.29**	.24**	1.0
10	Frequency of making purchases over the Internet	.18**	−.11**	.08**	.05*	.18**	.22**	.21**	.18**	.25**	1.0
11	Frequency of carrying out banking transactions online	.16**	.05*	.03	.14**	.12**	.18**	.14**	.10**	.24**	.32**	1.0
12	Digital security skills	.51**	−.32**	.27**	.08**	.24**	.28**	.31**	.23**	.22**	.28**	.18**	1.0

*p < .05.

**p < .01.

Table 4. Ordinary least squares (OLS) coefficients: digital security skills.

	Model		Model
	1		2
	b	β	B	β
Socioeconomic status and demographics
Age	−0.023 (0.001)	−0.374**	−0.020(0.001)	−0.320**
Gender (Male)	0.564 (0.045)	0.280**	0.505 (0.043)	0.251**
Completed years of education	0.058 (0.007)	0.180**	0.036 (0.007)	0.112**
Quality of access
Number of different devices through which users access the Internet			0.150 (0.023)	0.141**
Started using the Internet more than six years ago			0.524 (0.054)	0.214**
Constant	−0.029 (0.118)		−0.687(0.137)
Model fit
R^2	0.213		0.279
Adj R^2	0.212		0.277

Note: Standard errors are in parentheses.

*p < .05.

**p < .01.

Table 5. Ordinary least squares (OLS) coefficients: preventive antivirus behavior.

	Model		Model		Model		Model
	1		2		3		4
	b	β	b	β	b	β	b	β
Socioeconomic status and demographics
Age	−0.01 (0.002)	−0.151**	−0.007 (0.002)	−0.112**	−0.006 (0.002)	−0.087**	0.003 (0.002)	0.044
Gender (Male)	0.374 (0.052)	0.179**	0.328 (0.051)	0.157**	0.325 (0.051)	0.156**	0.07 (0.048)	0.034
Completed years of education	0.029 (0.009)	0.086**	0.013 (0.009)	0.038	0.008 (0.009)	0.024	−0.007 (0.008)	−0.021
Quality of access
Number of different devices through which users access the Internet			0.118 (0.028)	0.105**	0.087 (0.028)	0.077**	0.031 (0.026)	0.028
Started using the Internet more than six years ago			0.424 (0.065)	0.164**	0.291 (0.067)	0.112**	0.134 (0.062)	0.052*
Frequency of use
Frequency of use during past three months					0.062 (0.022)	0.075**	0.010 (0.02)	0.012
Frequency of using social networks					0.026 (0.018)	0.039	0.005 (0.016)	0.008
Frequency of seeking information					0.039 (0.023)	0.045	0.009 (0.021)	0.011
Frequency of making purchases over the Internet					0.049 (0.022)	0.058*	0.005 (0.02)	0.006
Frequency of carrying out banking transactions online					0.052 (0.017)	0.079**	0.033 (0.016)	0.049*
Digital skills
Digital security skills							0.505 (0.028)	0.481**
Constant	−0.156 (0.139)		−0.697 (0.166)		−1.240 (0.192)		−0.472 (0.18)
Model fit
R^2	0.054		0.092		0.121		0.275
Adj R^2	0.052		0.089		0.116		0.270

Note: Standard errors are in parentheses.

*p < .05.

**p < .01.