Empirical Study of Digital Divide and Cybercrime Vulnerability in Rural Borno State Communities

The digital divide creates distinctive patterns of cybercrime vulnerability in rural communities where digital access is recent and accompanied by minimal security awareness, and empirically characterising this relationship in conflict-affected Borno State provides evidence for targeted protective programming. This study empirically examined the relationship between digital divide dimensions and cybercrime victimisation vulnerability among rural community members in Konduga, Bama, and Ngala LGAs, Borno State, North East Nigeria. A cross-sectional survey was conducted among 240 adults using multistage sampling. Digital divide was measured across three dimensions: access, skills, and use. Cybercrime victimisation vulnerability was assessed through a scenario-based vulnerability scale. Structural equation modelling was applied. Results showed that low digital skills was the strongest predictor of victimisation vulnerability (beta = 0.61, p < 0.001), followed by low frequency of digital use (beta = 0.38, p < 0.001). Digital access showed no direct significant effect after controlling for skills and use. Female respondents showed significantly higher vulnerability scores (beta = 0.23, p < 0.001). The study fills an empirical gap in the digital divide-cybercrime vulnerability nexus and recommends digital skills programmes targeted at rural Borno women, cybercrime-aware mobile money agent training, and community-level digital safety messaging through traditional and religious channels in North East Nigeria. Keywords: digital divide, cybercrime vulnerability, rural communities, Borno State, digital skills