Susceptibility to instant messaging phishing attacks: does systematic information processing differ between genders?

The purpose of this research is to fill gaps in the literature by focusing on gender differences in perceptions of phishing susceptibility among Malaysian university students. Based on the Heuristic-Systematic Model of information processing, a theoretical model of victimization by instant message phishing was developed. Smart PLS-SEM was used to analyse 386 valid responses from an anonymous online survey. The findings reveal significant gender differences in systematic phishing processing, with male students emphasizing argument quality and female students emphasizing message involvement. This study discovered that persuasive phishing messages increase the likelihood of instant messaging phishing victimization in university students. When a phishing message has a high level of message involvement, Internet users have intents (a favourable attitude) to share personal information online. The findings provide insights that should be communicated to students early on to help them scrutinize message authenticity and fine-tune their security knowledge. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]