Student Awareness as Basis for Developing Cybersecurity Program for Avionics Technology

Abstract

The digital transformation of the aviation sector necessitates rigorous cybersecurity standards; however, a critical awareness-action gap persists among emerging professionals. This study addressed this imperative by assessing the level of cybersecurity awareness among Avionics Technology students at WCC Aeronautical & Technological College - Binalonan to serve as the empirical foundation for a structured institutional intervention. Employing a hybrid methodology that combined a descriptive survey with elements of Design Science Research, the study was aligned with ISO/IEC 27001:2022 standards. Quantitative data was gathered from one hundred targeted students utilizing a structured 5-point Likert scale evaluation instrument. This tool systematically measured student awareness across four specific threat domains: password management-related issues, social engineering threats, malicious software and wireless network attacks, and endpoint device security. The empirical findings revealed a systemic operational deficiency. While students possessed foundational theoretical knowledge such as effectively recognizing deceptive phishing tactics (mean 4.10) they lacked practical technical defense capabilities. Students exhibited a dangerous reliance on human memory by drastically underutilizing secure encrypted password managers (mean 1.85) and demonstrated alarming vulnerabilities regarding unencrypted wireless network transmissions (mean 2.65). Conversely, the respondents expressed an overwhelming demand for structured, standardized training modules (composite mean 4.78). To rectify these empirical vulnerabilities, the research culminated in the formulation of the Cybersecurity Program for Avionics Technology. This fully operational training architecture integrates standardized vaulting protocols, active threat simulations, and endpoint hardening. Aligned with United Nations Sustainable Development Goals 4: Quality Education and 9: Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure, this programmatic intervention actively bridges the awareness-action gap, ensuring future graduates enter the industry as highly secure guardians of critical aerospace infrastructure.