Reburon, Arlan Gisala

Abstract:The tremendous growth in global web usage has significantly increased digital connectedness and the community's vulnerability to online fraud, cyberattacks, and other forms of online exploitation. Public awareness, grassroots comprehension, and frontline staff's ability to successfully enforce regulations continue to be severely lacking. This study evaluated the knowledge of Bangued inhabitants regarding the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012, also known as RA 10175, with an emphasis on sociodemographic, information sources, online platform usage, ownership of ICT devices, and understanding of its provisions, punishable acts, and punishments. It also examined the relationship between profiles and levels of awareness, as well as their differences across areas. A mixed-methods Explanatory Sequential design was used to quantitatively collect data from 394 respondents: 123 from schools, 48 from the business sector, and 223 residents, selected through stratified random sampling using Slovin's formula. The qualitative part involved nine participants purposely selected to explain emerging patterns from which data was used to triangulate the initial quantitative findings. Results revealed that respondents were generally aware of the provisions of the law and the punishable acts; however, the respondents had a low understanding of the penalties, with residents consistently demonstrating the lowest awareness, and there was a significant relationship between educational attainment, age of the community respondents, and their level of awareness of RA 10175. It is recommended that thisstudy provide localized, sector-specific evidence on awareness gaps in cybercrime legislation, which may inform community-based and sector-targeted cybercrime education initiatives, curriculumintegration, and business compliance training to address identified gaps in awareness of the Cybercrime Prevention Act of 2012 and to support evidence-based awareness initiatives in Bangued, Abra.

Keywords:Cybercrime Awareness, Digital Literacy, Community-Based Prevention