Development of the cybercrime awareness scale (CAS): a validity and reliability study in a Turkish sample

Purpose Cybercrimes increase day by day in parallel to cyber-attacks and cyber-threats. Due to such an increase, required cybersecurity precautions against all kinds of cyber-attacks and cyber-threats should be taken by both organizations and individuals. This study aims to develop a reliable and valid measurement tool to measure cybercrime awareness levels of individuals. Design/methodology/approach In this study, a scale named as Cybercrime Awareness Scale (CAS) has been developed and psychometric properties of the scale have been tested by two separate studies. Findings The first study included a total of 500 respondents (294 female and 206 male). In the first study, factor structure of the proposed scale has been determined through an exploratory factor analysis. The results revealed a three-factor structure (i.e. information systems crimes, personal data crimes, and privacy and security). Cronbach's alpha reliability coefficients for the subdimensions were 0.95, 0.92, and 0.90, respectively. The sample of the second study consisted of 494 respondents (281 female and 213 male). The confirmatory-factor-analysis results revealed that three-factor structure is valid and optimal model. Further, the proposed scale demonstrated moderate concurrent validity results in relation to the Digital Data Security Awareness Scale. Originality/value Findings indicated that the CAS is a valid and reliable measurement tool to measure individuals' cybercrime awareness level. This study makes a novel contribution to the existing cybersecurity literature by providing the CAS, which is developed by following rigorous methodological standards. Peer review The peer review history for this article is available at: https://publons.com/publon/10.1108/OIR-01-2022-0023/