IT Audit and Cybersecurity Awareness in Saudi universities: Policy, ethics, and institutional practices

HEIs are now functioning in an environment with an increasing array of digital platforms that have heightened cybersecurity risks and raised various ethical considerations with reference to digital ethics in aspects such as privacy, integrity, and responsible technology use. The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has been undergoing an education sector digital transformation at an ever-increasing pace, with an emphasis on online educational platforms and other data-driven educational systems. However, there exists an absence of adequate in-depth studies with reference to the role of management in HEIs in promoting IT Audit and Cybersecurity Awareness in Saudi Arabia. The research used a sequential explanatory mixed-method research design. The quantitative research collected data by conducting a structured survey among 200 participants, including academic staff, administrative staff, and IT/security staff from various public and private universities across Saudi Arabia. The structured survey aimed to investigate management styles within an organizational context, IT Audit and Cybersecurity Awareness, digital ethics awareness, and individual practice related to safe and ethical use of digital technologies, including correlations of variables by Pearson correlation analysis. After that, qualitative research was conducted to clarify the research findings by exploring the research results, i.e. thematic analysis of the research findings.