Cybersecurity Awareness Scale (CSAS) for Social Media Users: Development, Validity and Reliability Study

With the widespread adoption of social media, cybersecurity threats such as data breaches, online fraud, and identity theft have become increasingly prevalent. Despite these risks, many users remain unaware of potential security threats and fail to take adequate precautions to protect their privacy and confidentiality. This study aims to develop and validate the “Cybersecurity Awareness Scale” (CSAS) for social media users. Data was collected from 1096 social media users in two phases. An “Exploratory Factor Analysis” (EFA), conducted with data from 500 users, identified a three-factor structure with strong internal reliability (α = 0.88). A “Confirmatory Factor Analysis” (CFA), performed on a separate sample of 596 users, confirmed that the three-factor model-comprising Confidentiality, Trust, and Privacy-provided a good fit to the data. Additionally, convergent, discriminant, and concurrent validity assessments supported the scale's robustness. The findings indicated that the CSAS is a reliable and valid instrument for measuring cybersecurity awareness among social media users.