Scaffolding Online Safety in Older Communities: Exploring the Relationship Between Digital Literacy and Cybersecurity

Older adults are often subjected to online attacks and can be vulnerable to social engineering. In addition to direct harms, this may contribute towards lower rates of technology use and digital literacy in older populations. Since September 2019, we have worked with older adult volunteers to create a peer-to-peer cybersecurity advocacy initiative. We present a thematic analysis of longitudinal qualitative data that explores links between cybersecurity and digital literacy. Our findings highlight a technical ceiling that limited some proactive changes for peer advocates and for those they reached. We suggest that overcoming such issues requires significant practical familiarity, aided by the provision of repeat practice in a safe environment and with longitudinal support. This, we position as part of a need for the integration of cybersecurity training within digital literacy education for older learners. Finally, we elaborate on the structure of our engagement in terms of layered and distributed scaffolding.