Country Life in the Digital Era: Comparison of Technology Use and Cybercrime Victimization between Residents of Rural and Urban Environments in Slovenia

Igor Bernik (), Kaja Prislan and Anže Mihelič
Additional contact information
Igor Bernik: Faculty of Criminal Justice and Security, University of Maribor, Kotnikova 8, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia
Kaja Prislan: Faculty of Criminal Justice and Security, University of Maribor, Kotnikova 8, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia
Anže Mihelič: Faculty of Criminal Justice and Security, University of Maribor, Kotnikova 8, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 21, 1-16

Abstract: Cybercrime is one of the most significant security challenges of the 21st century. However, official statistics do not provide insights into its prevalence and nature. Representative cross-sectional field studies may help fill this gap, focusing on differences between urban and rural technology users. We (a) investigated the association between the purpose of computers and other electronic device usage and perceived vulnerability, (b) compared the differences in the purpose of computers or other electronic device use and perceived vulnerability, and (c) compared the perceived cyber victimization between residents of rural and urban areas. We conducted a field study that resulted in a representative sample of the Republic of Slovenia in Europe. We found several significant differences in the purpose of technology use and perceived cyber victimization. Furthermore, the results indicate that the purpose of technology use is somehow associated with perceived vulnerability in cyberspace; however, such associations are different in cyberspace than in the material world.

Keywords: cyber victimization; cybercrime; rural environment; technology use; perceived vulnerability (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

Downloads: (external link)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/21/14487/pdf (application/pdf)
https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/21/14487/ (text/html)

Related works:
This item may be available elsewhere in EconPapers: Search for items with the same title.

Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text

Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:21:p:14487-:d:963297

Access Statistics for this article

Sustainability is currently edited by Ms. Alexandra Wu

More articles in Sustainability from MDPI
Bibliographic data for series maintained by MDPI Indexing Manager ().