IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jrisks/v12y2024i12p200-d1540659.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Mapping Cyber-Financial Risk Profiles: Implications for European Cybersecurity and Financial Literacy

Author

Listed:
  • Alexandru Răzvan Căciulescu

    (Faculty of Automatic Control and Computers, National University of Science and Technology Politehnica Bucharest, 060042 Bucharest, Romania)

  • Răzvan Rughiniș

    (Faculty of Automatic Control and Computers, National University of Science and Technology Politehnica Bucharest, 060042 Bucharest, Romania
    Academy of Romanian Scientists, 3 Ilfov, 050044 Bucharest, Romania)

  • Dinu Țurcanu

    (Faculty of Electronics and Telecommunications, National Institute of Innovations in Cybersecurity “CYBERCOR”, Technical University of Moldova, MD-2004 Chișinău, Moldova)

  • Alexandru Radovici

    (Faculty of Automatic Control and Computers, National University of Science and Technology Politehnica Bucharest, 060042 Bucharest, Romania)

Abstract

This study investigates the landscape of cyber-financial risks across Europe by identifying distinct risk profiles based on financial literacy, digital comfort, and economic vulnerability. Utilizing data from the Flash Eurobarometer 525 survey, we employ K-means cluster analysis to categorize European citizens into five distinct cyber-financial risk profiles: Cyber-Savvy Pragmatists, Digital-Savvy Vulnerable individuals, Cautious Traditionalists, Comfortably Naive individuals, and Digitally Hesitant At-Risk individuals. Our findings show significant variations in risk profiles across demographic groups and European regions, with gender disparities and educational differences. We examine how self-perceived financial knowledge and financial decision-making patterns differ across these profiles, uncovering potential overconfidence in some groups that may exacerbate cyber-financial vulnerabilities. This study also explores regional distributions of risk profiles, highlighting areas of heightened cybersecurity concern across Europe. Our results indicate that cybersecurity strategies should be tailored to address the specific vulnerabilities of each risk profile, with particular attention to gender-based disparities and regional variations. This research contributes to a better understanding of cyber-financial risks in Europe and offers actionable information for policymakers, financial institutions, and cybersecurity professionals in developing targeted interventions to enhance digital financial security across diverse populations.

Suggested Citation

  • Alexandru Răzvan Căciulescu & Răzvan Rughiniș & Dinu Țurcanu & Alexandru Radovici, 2024. "Mapping Cyber-Financial Risk Profiles: Implications for European Cybersecurity and Financial Literacy," Risks, MDPI, vol. 12(12), pages 1-24, December.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jrisks:v:12:y:2024:i:12:p:200-:d:1540659
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9091/12/12/200/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9091/12/12/200/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Monica T. Whitty, 2019. "Predicting susceptibility to cyber-fraud victimhood," Journal of Financial Crime, Emerald Group Publishing Limited, vol. 26(1), pages 277-292, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Nombulelo Queen Mabeka, 2022. "The Application of Section 8 of Cybercrimes Act 19 of 2020 in Civil Procedure in South Africa is a Hailing Snow: A Comparative Studies between South Africa and United Kingdom," International Journal of Law and Public Administration, Redfame publishing, vol. 5(2), pages 1-13, December.
    2. Hong, Sunmin & Jeong, Dohyo & Kim, Pyung, 2024. "Have offender demographics changed since the COVID-19 pandemic? Evidence from money mules in South Korea," Journal of Criminal Justice, Elsevier, vol. 91(C).
    3. Chin Lay Gan & Yi Yong Lee & Tze Wei Liew, 2024. "Fishing for phishy messages: predicting phishing susceptibility through the lens of cyber-routine activities theory and heuristic-systematic model," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 11(1), pages 1-17, December.
    4. C. A. Robb & S. Wendel, 2023. "Who Can You Trust? Assessing Vulnerability to Digital Imposter Scams," Journal of Consumer Policy, Springer, vol. 46(1), pages 27-51, March.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jrisks:v:12:y:2024:i:12:p:200-:d:1540659. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.