A Systematic Literature Review of Cybersecurity Awareness and Strategy in Rural-Based Universities

The number of cyberattacks against higher education organizations has dramatically increased in recent years, especially among the less-resourced rural universities where awareness and preparedness are sometimes non-existent. Often, these vulnerabilities can be attributed to human factors and lack of formal training or institutional strategies, if they exist. This paper provides a Systematic Literature Review (SLR) of Cybersecurity Awareness and Strategy in Rural based Universities. The study focused on literature from 2020-2025 analyzing the relationship between cybersecurity awareness and strategic cybersecurity in rural university environments. An exploration of SLR identified key themes such as awareness campaigns, organizational culture, digital literacy, institutional governance, and policy integration. The findings indicated that while awareness does improve the individual and organizational position related to cybersecurity, rural-based universities are faced with ongoing challenges relating to enforced policy, infrastructure, and continuous capacity development. This SLR also offered a conceptual alignment between cybersecurity education and institutional governance-related policy and initiatives, and a pathway for awareness-based strategy development for rural academic environments.