Strengthening Cybersecurity Resilience in Agriculture Through Educational Interventions: A Case Study of the Ponca Tribe of Nebraska

TL;DR

This study evaluates an educational program aimed at improving cybersecurity awareness among farmers in the Ponca Tribe of Nebraska, demonstrating significant knowledge gains and emphasizing the importance of ongoing community-specific cybersecurity education.

Contribution

It introduces the CIIA educational intervention and provides empirical evidence of its effectiveness in enhancing cybersecurity awareness among tribal farmers.

Findings

Post-intervention knowledge improvement in cybersecurity concepts

Baseline deficiency in cybersecurity education among participants

Need for sustained, community-specific cybersecurity efforts

Abstract

The increasing digitization of agricultural operations has introduced new cybersecurity challenges for the farming community. This paper introduces an educational intervention called Cybersecurity Improvement Initiative for Agriculture (CIIA), which aims to strengthen cybersecurity awareness and resilience among farmers and food producers. Using a case study that focuses on farmers from the Ponca Tribe of Nebraska, the research evaluates pre- and post- intervention survey data to assess participants' cybersecurity knowledge and awareness before and after exposure to the CIIA. The findings reveal a substantial baseline deficiency in cybersecurity education among participants, however, post-intervention assessments demonstrate improvements in the comprehension of cybersecurity concepts, such as password hygiene, multi-factor authentication, and the necessity of routine data backups. These initial findings highlight the need for a continued and sustained, community-specific cybersecurity education effort to help mitigate emerging cyber threats in the agricultural sector.