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Article · Вестник КазАТК · August 31, 2026

COGNITIVE AND BEHAVIORAL ASSESSMENT OF STUDENTS’ DIGITAL VULNERABILITY ON INSTAGRAM

Yerkhan Makatov, Abdul Razaque, Zamzagul Ozhibayeva, Aigerim Ismukanova

Yerkhan Makatov
Open via DOIPDF

Abstract

The purpose of the research is to check how students are vulnerable to information risks on Instagram. The platform becomes very popular among young people, and because of this digital security now looks like a serious problem. The study focus is about how students know about cyber threats and what behavior can make their risk higher. The research has three main tasks: to see what kind of risky behavior students can have online, to look if there are any gender differences, to understand how users make their actions on the Internet, step by step. The research uses a mixed approach. It means an analytical review was made, and also a survey of 147 students was done. Four methods are used: the Integrated Vulnerability Index (IVI), the Weighted Risk (WR), Pearson correlation analysis, and Behavioral Digital Entropy (BDE). The results say that 75% of students have a moderate level of vulnerability. Male students show higher behavioral entropy for this reason are more open to phishing attempts. Female students show more stable strategies, and they focus more on privacy. The main conclusions and recommendations are like this: to create digital hygiene programs that include gender factors; to make educational materials for specific groups; and to use BDE as a tool to find high-risk users earlier.

Information and Cyber SecurityPrivacy, Security, and Data ProtectionSpam and Phishing DetectionInstagramdigital vulnerabilitystudents

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