Grant / January 2020

Cybersecurity Awareness for Vulnerable Populations

The City of San Francisco’s Digital Inclusion Initiative focuses on addressing the technology needs of the most underserved neighborhoods and communities, including vulnerable populations, a group defined as seniors, disabled, low-income, and limited-English speaking populations. Interviews have revealed that these populations are most likely to mention being victim to cyber-attacks, such as malware and phishing. This project will use a mix of surveys to assess whether the nature of cyber-crime and cybersecurity create unique problems specific to vulnerable populations and whether the scope of cyber-crime is significantly larger for these populations compared to the general population. The end goal is to provide a set of recommendations to the City that could reduce cyber-crime for the vulnerable.