Factors of police officers’ awareness of digital threats against cybercrime in the United Arab Emirates police

Cybercrime is rapidly evolving, with new trends developing on a regular basis. New technologies are rapidly exploited. There is still a sizable proportion of internet users in the UAE who are victims of cybercrime. The study takes a logical approach, starting with a theory and concluding with a hypothesis test. The study is quantitative in nature, with statistical analysis based on descriptive measurements as well as variance and covariance methodologies. The acquired data was analysed using SPSS 23 and SMART PLS 3.0. The study population for this analysis was all workers of the Dubai Police in the UAE, with a total sample size of 374. The findings revealed that policy and training variables have significant impacts on the performance against cybercrimes. The findings also revealed that management support, digital technology and security services variables have significant impacts on cybercrime prevention and detection performance. Simultaneously, this study found that policy and training variables have significant impacts on knowledge of digital hazards. Furthermore, this study indicated that management assistance, security services and digital technology variables have significant impacts on the awareness of digital hazards. This research is considered important for the police forces and the country, as well as for the Emirates residents. This is due to the fact that this study successfully raises public awareness, knowledge, and understanding of the dangers and harms of cybercrimes as well as the negative consequences that they may face on individuals' personal security and national security at the level of state institutions.