THE ROLE OF SPECIALIZED CYBERSECURITY EDUCATION IN DEVELOPING A RESILIENT HEALTHCARE WORKFORCE TO COMBAT DIGITAL CRIME IN NIGERIA

Abstract

The Nigerian healthcare sector faces unprecedented cyberattacks threatening patient safety, with the human element remaining the primary attack vector despite evolving technical defenses. This study examines the role of specialized cybersecurity education in developing a resilient healthcare workforce to combat digital crime in Nigeria. Using a cross-sectional survey design, data were collected from 385 healthcare professionals across six tertiary hospitals – one from each geopolitical zone. The Workforce Resilience in Cybersecurity scale measured five dimensions: anticipation, coping, recovery, adaptation, and embedded practice. Findings revealed that specialized cybersecurity education significantly predicted workforce resilience (β = 0.34, p < 0.001), explaining 18% of the variance, with role-based and interactive training proving substantially more effective than generic annual awareness and passive approaches. Technical staff demonstrated the highest resilience, while clinical staff exhibited the lowest, highlighting the need for workflow-integrated training. Organizational support emerged as a critical moderating factor (ΔR² = 0.04, p = 0.008), amplifying the benefits of educational interventions. Key barriers included time constraints (67%), irrelevant content (52%), and inadequate infrastructure, with 43.4% lacking formal training. The study contributes to scholarship by empirically validating the application of human-centred security principles and workforce development theory in a low-resource healthcare context. For policy, it provides evidence-based recommendations emphasizing competency-based education, differentiated training, strengthened organizational support, and policies aligned with the Nigeria Data Protection Act to safeguard patient safety and national health security.