Exploration of The Impact of Cyber Situational Awareness On Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in Malaysia

The objective of this study is to explore the cyber situational awareness (CSA) level among the employees of small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) in Malaysia, by extending Endsley's situation awareness (SA) theory. It is crucial to understand the level of cyber situational awareness among employees as it sheds light on how well the employees understand the cyber threats and if they can handle them effectively. Literature has reviewed that SMEs are subject to a greater danger of cyber-attacks. Therefore, employees' awareness of cyber situations is of the utmost significance in studying cyber security. A convenient non-probability sampling method was chosen due to less expensive to deploy and increase the efficiency of data collection processes. IBM SPSS was used to conduct descriptive exploration data analysis that provides insight into the employee's current CSA by categorizing the employees into good, average, and poor understanding of the CSA. A total of 443 surveys were collected in the study, the findings reveal that most employees are not adequately aware of cyber situations, and employees understand the need to adhere to cyber security policy within the organization but fail to comply. The study contributes to practical domain by identifying the current level of CSA, SMEs should be set forth to create a strong culture of cyber security awareness and compliance and prioritize cyber security as part of the organization's culture to improve overall employee engagement and motivation in dealing with cyber threats.