Cybersecurity Education Research Articles

Cybersecurity Education and Awareness Among Parents and Teachers: A Survey of Bahrain

Cybersecurity Education and Awareness Among Parents and Teachers: A Survey of Bahrain

Research on the Importance of Cybersecurity Education on the Cultivation of Healthy Social Mindset of College Students

Abstract This paper first discusses the basic functions and basic ways of network security education, then explores the basic characteristics of students’ social mentality, analyzes the main influencing factors of college students’ healthy social mentality, and the influence of network security education on college students’ social mentality, and based on this, proposes an innovative path of network security parenting. Then, the students’ network security literacy and healthy social mentality were analyzed for differences, and the influence of network security education on their critical thinking ability was studied using ANOVA. The use of heterogeneity analysis was used to investigate changes in students’ healthy social mindset at both high and low levels of cybersecurity education. The results showed that the effect of cybersecurity education on students’ total critical thinking ability was significant at the 1% level, F=3.219, η2=0.013. Students’ healthy social mindset was affected by both high and low cybersecurity education levels, with substantial coefficients of 0.00189 and 0.00152, respectively. The present study systematically examines the mechanism of the influence of cybersecurity education on college students’ social mindset and the path of influence, which helps to enrich the research paradigm on college students’ social mentality.

Gamified Cybersecurity Education Through the Lens of the Information Search Process: An Exploratory Study of Capture-the-Flag Competitions [Research-in-Progress

Aim/Purpose. Capture the Flag (CTF) challenges are a popular form of cybersecurity education where students solve hands-on tasks in a game-like setting. These exercises provide learning experiences with various specific technologies and subjects, as well as a broader understanding of cybersecurity topics. Competitions reinforce and teach problem-solving skills that are applicable in various technical and non-technical environments outside of the competitions. Background. The Information Search Process (ISP) is a framework developed to under-stand the process by which an individual goes about studying a topic, identifying emotional ties connected to each step an individual takes. As the individual goes through the problem-solving process, there is a clear flow from uncertainty to clarity; the individual’s feelings, thoughts, and actions are all interconnected. This study aims to investigate the learning of cybersecurity concepts within the framework of the ISP, specifically in the context of CTF competitions. Methodology. A comprehensive research methodology designed to incorporate quantitative and qualitative analyses to draw the parallels between the participants’ emotional experiences and the affective dimensions of learning will be implemented to measure the three primary goals. Contribution. This study contributes significantly to the broader landscape of cybersecurity education and cognitive-emotional experiences in problem-solving. Findings. The study has three primary goals. First, we seek to enhance our under-standing of the emotional and intellectual aspects involved in problem-solving, as demonstrated by the ISP approach. Second, we aim to gain in-sights into how the presentation of CTF challenges influences the learning experience of participants. Lastly, we strive to contribute to the improvement of cybersecurity education by identifying actionable steps for more effective teaching of technical skills and approaches. Recommendations for Practitioners. Competitions reinforce and teach problem-solving skills applicable in various technical and non-technical environments outside of the competitions. Recommendations for Researchers. The Information Search Process (ISP) framework may enhance our understanding of the emotional and intellectual aspects involved in problem-solving as we study the emotional ties connected to each step an individual takes as the individual goes through the problem-solving process. Impact on Society. Our pursuit of advancing our understanding of cybersecurity education will better equip future generations with the skills and knowledge needed to ad-dress the evolving challenges of the digital landscape. This will better pre-pare them for real-world challenges. Future Research. Future studies would include the development of a cybersecurity curriculum on vulnerability exploitation and defense. It would include practice exploiting practical web and binary vulnerabilities, reverse engineering, system hardening, security operations, and understanding how they can be chained together.

A Critical Review on Cybersecurity Awareness Frameworks and Training Models

Due to its inherent weaknesses, protecting data and maintaining its integrity is crucial in the changing world of cybersecurity. This evaluation employs a quantitative methodology to evaluate several cybersecurity awareness and training approaches to illuminate their efficacy in lowering costs and security incidents for a company while enhancing cyber resilience and security posture. Our thorough research, which is supported by actual evidence, emphasizes the real advantages of clear cybersecurity awareness and training activities. These measures enable businesses to drastically reduce security incidents and realize verifiable cost reductions. Additionally, these initiatives act as accelerators for improving overall cyber resilience, therefore bolstering an organization’s security posture. This in-depth analysis offers a data-driven perspective on these models’ respective capabilities and highlights the critical role that strategic cybersecurity education and awareness play in defending against a constantly changing threat environment.

КИБЕРБЕЗОПАСНОСТЬ В ОБРАЗОВАТЕЛЬНОЙ СРЕДЕ: ОБУЧЕНИЕ И ПРАКТИКА

The article examines the importance of cybersecurity in the educational environment and the need to integrate relevant curricula. Particular attention is paid to the analysis of current cyber threats faced by educational institutions, and best practices for training students and staff in the skills to protect against these threats are discussed. The challenges and barriers to the implementation of cybersecurity education are described, and recommendations for overcoming these difficulties are offered.

Analysis of Gamification in Cybersecurity Education for Students: A Systematic Literature Review

<p>The increasingly complex digital era requires a deeper comprehension of cybersecurity threats, particularly in educational settings. The imperative to establish an interactive and adaptive learning environment, responsive to technological advancements, makes the adoption of gamification elements as an innovative method to heighten student involvement and deliver crucial knowledge in the context of cybersecurity. To tackle these challenges, this research outlines the cause-and-effect relationships, focusing on the connection between the evolution of cybersecurity knowledge areas and gamification elements found in earlier literature. By specifying the components of the CIA Triad—Confidentiality, Integrity, and Availability—this study establishes a strong foundation for investigating how gamification elements can harmonize with the cybersecurity requirements in this digital era. The research utilizes a systematic literature review method based on inclusion and exclusion criteria, the research identifies 13 Google Scholar-indexed articles published between 2018 and 2023. These findings reveal a correlation between gamification elements and the CIA Triad aspects, along with Venn diagrams in recent cyber threats and attacks. This offers a foundation for the development of more potent pedagogical approaches in delivering cybersecurity materials to the generation maturing in this digital era.</p><p class="abstrak"><em>Era digital yang semakin kompleks menuntut pemahaman yang lebih mendalam terhadap ancaman keamanan siber, khususnya di lingkungan pendidikan. Adapun kebutuhan untuk menciptakan lingkungan pembelajaran yang menarik dan responsif terhadap perkembangan teknologi informasi mendorong penerapan elemen-elemen gamifikasi sebagai metode inovatif yang dapat meningkatkan keterlibatan siswa dan menyampaikan pengetahuan krusial dalam konteks keamanan siber. Dalam rangka mengatasi tantangan ini, penelitian ini menjelaskan secara rinci pola sebab dan akibat, dengan fokus pada korelasi antara pengembangan area wawasan keamanan siber dengan elemen-elemen gamifikasi dalam literatur terdahulu. Dengan merinci aspek-aspek CIA Triad, yakni Confidentiality, Integrity, dan Availability, penelitian ini menciptakan dasar yang kuat untuk mengeksplorasi bagaimana elemen-elemen gamifikasi dapat menyelaraskan diri dengan kebutuhan keamanan siber di era digital ini. Penelitian ini menggunakan metode systematic literature review berdasarkan kriteria inklusi dan eksklusi, menghasilkan 13 artikel terindeks Google Scholar yang diterbitkan di tahun 2018-2023. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan adanya korelasi antara elemen-elemen gamifikasi dan aspek CIA Triad, serta diagram venn yang mengilustrasikan kesesuaian elemen gamifikasi dengan aspek CIA Triad pada ancaman dan serangan siber terbaru sehingga dapat memberikan landasan untuk pengembangan pedagogi yang lebih efektif dalam menyampaikan materi keamanan siber kepada generasi yang tumbuh dalam era digital ini.</em><em></em></p>

Cybersecurity education for South African school children through the action Cybercrime Prevention Programme: A systematic literature review

Cybertechnologies have become so important to human daily engagements that society can hardly do anything outside these ubiquitous technologies. These technologies have a great impact on the economy, as well as the social well-being of citizens in developed and third world countries. The dependence on digital technologies is useful in every sector of society. The consistent call for the adoption of digital technologies in education has seen different governments in advanced and developing nations of the world introducing the use of information and communication technologies (ICT) at the different facets of education. This introduction of ICT has brought in the use of the Internet in education which in turn has exposed the learners to the various threats that come with exposure to the Internet or cybertechnology. The internet is believed to have played a prominent role in facilitating the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) in the different sectors of the world economy, most especially education. However, cybertechnology has brought a new dimension of threats ranging from cyber-bullying, identity theft, scamming, advanced fee fraud, and so many other dangers to humans’ daily existence. None of the citizens in the developed and developing nations of the world is immune from these crimes committed in cyberspace; therefore, there is a need to introduce school children to cybersecurity education as early as possible. It is in light of the foregoing that this systematic review proposes the Action Cybercrime Prevention Programme to equip school children with knowledge and skills that would minimise their exposure to dangers inherent in the use of information and communication technology (ICT) and the Internet for education and social purposes. This systematic review discusses the intergenerational effects of the proposed Action Cybercrime Prevention Programme on young learners to educate their parents or grandparents from falling victim to cybercrimes.

Classification and topic tracking of college students’ cybersecurity education based on the internet

Campus security issues have always been a hot topic of concern from all walks of life. To analyze the changes in network public opinion of college students’ campus security incidents, this study proposes to classify campus security incidents and track related topics. The classification algorithm and topic tracking algorithm for campus security incidents based on Internet technology are studied, and a prototype system of campus security incidents based on Internet is designed for analysis. The research results show that the Internet-based campus security incident prototype system can classify campus security incidents more accurately, and can also track security incidents on related topics, which provide support for student security management to a certain extent. This technology will be applied to the tracking and classification of college safety accidents, and provide certain reference for ensuring college students’ campus safety.

Exploring Cybersecurity Education and Training Techniques: A Comprehensive Review of Traditional, Virtual Reality, and Augmented Reality Approaches

Considering the alarming increase in cyberattacks and their potential financial implications, the importance of cybersecurity education and training cannot be overstated. This paper presents a systematic literature review that examines different cybersecurity education and training techniques with a focus on symmetry. It primarily focuses on traditional cybersecurity education techniques and emerging technologies, such as virtual reality (VR) and augmented reality (AR), through the lens of symmetry. The main objective of this study is to explore the existing cybersecurity training techniques, identify the challenges involved, and assess the effectiveness of cybersecurity training based on VR and AR while emphasizing the concept of symmetry. Through careful selection criteria, 66 primary studies were selected from a total of 150 pertinent research studies. This article offers valuable insights into the pros and cons of conventional training approaches, explores the use of VR and AR in cybersecurity education concerning symmetry, and thoroughly discusses the challenges associated with these technologies. The findings of this review contribute significantly to the continuing efforts in cybersecurity education by offering recommendations for improving employees’ knowledge, engagement, and motivation in cybersecurity training programs while maintaining symmetry in the learning process.

Designing an internet of things laboratory to improve student understanding of secure IoT systems

In response to an alarming shortage of workers in cybersecurity and a growing skills gap, the U.S. Department of Defense is taking steps to build cybersecurity capacity through workforce training and education. In this paper, we present an approach to address this shortage and skills gap through the development of cybersecurity education courseware for internet of things (IoT) applications.To attract students and workers into the field of cybersecurity, it is important to design courseware that is exciting and tied to real-world problems. We describe our design for an embedded systems course taught at the graduate level for engineering and computer science students. The innovation in our approach is to select the fast-growing domain of healthcare and feature different IoT sensors that are seeing increased usage. These include barcode scanners, cameras, fingerprint sensors, and pulse sensors. These devices cover important functions such as patient identification, monitoring, and creating electronic health records. We use a password protected MySQL database as a model for electronic health records. We also demonstrate potential vulnerabilities of these databases to SQL injection attacks.We administered these labs and collected survey data from the students. We found a significant increase in student understanding of cybersecurity issues. The mean confidence level of the students in cybersecurity issues increased from 2.5 to 4.1 on a 5-point scale after taking this course, which represents a 65% increase. The instructional lab material has been uploaded to the web portal https://clark.center designated by the National Security Agency for dissemination. Our approach, design, and experimental validation methodology will be useful for educators, researchers, students, and organizations interested in re-skilling their workforce.

Design of a conceptual framework for cybersecurity culture amongst online banking users in Nigeria

This study aims to construct a comprehensive conceptual framework that elucidates the critical human factors influencing cybersecurity culture among online banking users in Nigeria. The research methodology is grounded in a meticulous examination of existing literature in the cybersecurity culture domain, serving as the foundation for this framework. The literature review reveals a conspicuous absence of academic research on cybersecurity culture within Nigeria and underscores the importance of comprehending its unique nuances. Key findings from the literature review highlight the prominence of “cybersecurity awareness,” “cybersecurity policy,” and “cybersecurity education” as influential factors. “Cybersecurity awareness” emerges as the most pivotal factor due to its recurrent emphasis and recognized centrality. “Cybersecurity policy” and “cybersecurity education” secure the second and third positions, respectively, due to their acknowledged significance in cultivating a security-conscious mindset among online banking users. Furthermore, the literature review exposes a research gap concerning the requisite “cybersecurity knowledge” that should permeate organizations and individuals to augment cybersecurity culture. Additionally, it reveals the underexplored influence of “social norms” and “interpersonal trust” in molding cybersecurity culture. This research accentuates the dearth of cybersecurity culture research within Nigeria and underscores the importance of understanding its unique facets. The proposed conceptual framework provides a valuable resource for designing tailored cybersecurity strategies and programs in Nigeria’s online banking sector. It advocates for prioritizing cybersecurity awareness, education, and policy, empowering users with the knowledge and skills needed to safeguard themselves against cyber threats. The model also highlights the relevance of recognizing the role played by social dynamics, interpersonal trust, and social norms in shaping cybersecurity behaviours.

BUILDING A SUSTAINABLE FUTURE: CONCEPTUALIZING THE SARAWAK DIGITAL COMMUNITY CENTER (DCC) DEVELOPMENT MODEL

This research paper endeavors to construct a comprehensive conceptual model for steering the sustainable evolution of Sarawak Digital Community Centers (SDCCs). The main emphasis is on figuring out crucial elements and procedures necessary for long-term sustainability and the constructive transformation of communities. The report examines the current state of Sarawak's Digital Community Centres in-depth and evaluates how they could support the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) listed in the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development of the United Nations. Three basic pillars—economic sustainability, environmental sustainability, and social sustainability—support our conceptual framework for sustainable development. Within this paradigm, we investigate the crucial functions played throughout the SDCC lifetime by governmental assistance, collaborative efforts, and technology innovation. To ensure relevance in a constantly changing digital environment, we also stress the crucial need of cybersecurity education and adaptability to emerging technology. Using a mixed-methods approach that combines thematic analysis and phone interviews, the Sarawak Digital Community Centres want to acquire insights into the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and dangers they are currently facing. The SWOT analysis framework draws on this assessment to generate its suggestions and policy directives for sustainable development. In conclusion, Sarawak's Digital Community Centres have enormous potential to strengthen local communities, promote inclusivity, and promote societal and economic growth. The suggested model offers stakeholders and policymakers a road map for strengthening SDCCs and maximizing their impact on sustainable community development in the age of the digital economy.

Editorial: The human factor in cyber security education

Editorial: The human factor in cyber security education

Student's Cybersecurity Awareness in Post Covid-19 Pandemic

The study used the Theory of Planned Behavior to investigate the relationship between undergraduate accounting students' knowledge of internal control and cyber security and how it impacts their decision-making and behavior. The study was carried out on Indonesian students, and the data was analyzed by regression analysis. The results showed that students' attitudes and perceived behavioral control positively influenced their intention to practice cybersecurity. However, the effect of subjective norms and education on cyber security was insignificant. The four variables studied accounted for 41.2% of the total variance in behavioral intentions. At the same time, other factors contributed to the remaining variance. The findings suggest a need to assess the effectiveness of current cyber security education practices to achieve educational goals better. The negligible impact of the educational variable highlights the necessity of re-evaluating the current approach to cybersecurity education.

Strategy To Build Public Awareness In Preventing Online Fraud Crimes In The Jurisdiction Of The Cimahi Police

This research is motivated by the negative impact of the development of information technology, especially the internet, which has caused an increase in cases of cyber crime. The number of victims in this type of crime is partly triggered by low public awareness. Therefore, this research is aimed at explaining appropriate strategies for building public awareness in preventing online fraud crimes in the Cimahi Police jurisdiction. The theories used in this research are criminology theory, rational choice theory, social control theory, planned behavior theory, communication theory, and social psychology theory. This research method was carried out through a qualitative approach, using data collection techniques through interviews, observation and data documentation. The research results show that cases of online fraud at the Cimahi Police are increasing along with technological developments and increasingly widespread internet connectivity. This crime has detrimental social and economic impacts on victims, including financial losses and psychological impacts. Therefore, appropriate steps are needed to increase public understanding of the risks and tactics of online fraud. A number of strategies that can be used to build public awareness in preventing online fraud crimes include: adopting a continuous education approach, strong public awareness campaigns need to be introduced through various media, collaboration with the private sector, especially e-commerce and banking platforms, developing complaint applications digital tools that enable people to report fraud easily and safely, adequate law enforcement training in digital investigations must be a priority, implementing victim protection programs, establishing partnerships with schools and integrating cyber security education in educational curricula, as well as conducting data analysis and prediction of online fraud trends the new one.

Building a Diverse Cybersecurity Workforce: A Study on Attracting Learners with Varied Educational Backgrounds

Cybersecurity has traditionally been perceived as a highly technical field, centered around hacking, programming, and network defense. However, this article contends that the scope of cybersecurity must transcend its technical confines to embrace a more inclusive approach. By incorporating various concepts such as privacy, data sharing, and ethics, cybersecurity can foster diversity among audiences with varying educational backgrounds, thereby cultivating a richer and more resilient security landscape. A more diverse cybersecurity workforce can provide a broader range of perspectives, experiences, and skills to address the complex and ever-evolving threats of the digital age. The research focuses on enhancing cybersecurity education to attract a diverse audience through the development and testing of a virtual platform on Haaukins (a cybersecurity training platform) designed with features resembling social media for capture-the-flag exercises. The results show that the cyber training platform effectively engages a diverse group of learners, bridging the gap between traditional technical boundaries and the urgent demand for comprehensive cybersecurity competence.

Turnstile File Transfer: A Unidirectional System for Medium-Security Isolated Clusters

Data transfer between isolated clusters is imperative for cybersecurity education, research, and testing. Such techniques facilitate hands-on cybersecurity learning in isolated clusters, allow cybersecurity students to practice with various hacking tools, and develop professional cybersecurity technical skills. Educators often use these remote learning environments for research as well. Researchers and students use these isolated environments to test sophisticated hardware, software, and procedures using full-fledged operating systems, networks, and applications. Virus and malware researchers may wish to release suspected malicious software in a controlled environment to observe their behavior better or gain the information needed to assist their reverse engineering processes. The isolation prevents harm to networked systems. However, there are times when the data is required to move in such quantities or speeds that it makes downloading onto an intermediate device untenable. This study proposes a novel turnstile model, a mechanism for one-way file transfer from one enterprise system to another without allowing data leakage. This system protects data integrity and security by connecting the isolated environment to the external network via a locked-down interconnection. Using medium-security isolated clusters, the researchers successfully developed a unidirectional file transfer system that acts as a one-way “turnstile” for secure file transfer between systems not connected to the internet or other external networks. The Turnstile system (source code available at github.com/monnin/turnstile) provides unidirectional file transfer between two computer systems. The solution enabled data to be transferred from a source system to a destination system without allowing any data to be transferred back in the opposite direction. The researchers found an automated process of transferring external files to isolated clusters optimized the transfer speed of external files to isolated clusters using Linux distributions and commands.

Leveraging VR/AR/MR/XR Technologies to Improve Cybersecurity Education, Training, and Operations

The United States faces persistent threats conducting malicious cyber campaigns that threaten critical infrastructure, companies and their intellectual property, and the privacy of its citizens. Additionally, there are millions of unfilled cybersecurity positions, and the cybersecurity skills gap continues to widen. Most companies believe that this problem has not improved and nearly 44% believe it has gotten worse over the past 10 years. Threat actors are continuing to evolve their tactics, techniques, and procedures for conducting attacks on public and private targets. Education institutions and companies must adopt emerging technologies to develop security professionals and to increase cybersecurity awareness holistically. Leveraging Virtual/ Augmented/Mixed/Extended Reality technologies for education, training, and awareness can augment traditional learning methodologies and improve the nation’s cybersecurity posture. This paper reviews previous research to identify how distance and remote education are conducted generally, and how Virtual/Augmented/Extended/Mixed reality technologies are used to conduct cybersecurity awareness training, cybersecurity training, and conduct operations. Finally, barriers to adopting these technologies will be discussed. Understanding how these technologies can be developed and implemented provides one potential way of overcoming the cybersecurity workforce gap and increasing the competencies and capabilities of cybersecurity professionals.

Integrating certifications into the cybersecurity college curriculum: The efficacy of education with certifications to increase the cybersecurity workforce

One only needs to listen to the news reports to recognize that the gap between securing the enterprise and cybersecurity threats, breaches, and vulnerabilities appears to be widening at an alarming rate. An un-tapped resource to combat these attacks lies in the students of the secondary educational system. Necessary in the cybersecurity education is a 3-tiered approach to quickly escalate the student into a workplace-ready graduate. The analogy used is a three-legged-stool, where curriculum content, hands-on skills, and certifications are equal instruments in the edification of the cybersecurity student. This paper endeavors to delve into the 3rd leg of the stool by developing the concept of vendor-specific and vendor-neutral certifications to educate the cybersecurity student and test their capability of protecting the workplace. The research data was drawn from companies in the Atlanta, Georgia area, who employ and hire cybersecurity recruits. The data from the research proves certifications are necessary as an addition to the cybersecurity curriculum in the secondary education arena. The paper reviews the need for cybersecurity graduates, the balance between cybersecurity theory and applied skillsets, the difference between a certificate and a certification, benefits to the community, classifications of certifications, relevancy of a college degree in today’s workforce, and recommendations for further study.

A survey on college students’ cybersecurity awareness and education from the perspective of China

As people increasingly rely on information and communication technology (ICT), a variety of cyber security issues are emerging, making improving cyber security awareness (CSA) an important topic. This quantitative study focuses on a group of college students from eight local public universities in China (n=1710) and aims to investigate their CSA and education levels using a 32-question questionnaire. Descriptive statistics and cross analysis were used to analyze the current situation related to cybersecurity in college. The results showed that nearly 50% of students spend more than four hours online, with female students spending more online time than males. Smartphones are currently the most popular devices, and spam is the most common issue they encounter. Descriptive statistics, independent samples t-test, and One-way ANOVA test were used to analyze the levels of CSA and education. For CSA, all students are still weak in their password practices. Male students have higher CSA levels in usage habit related to device and HTTP use, but female students perform better in social media. Majors do not make a significant difference in CSA, and freshmen perform better than juniors in device and HTTP application. Regarding cybersecurity education, almost all students believe that colleges need to strengthen information security education. Male students are more familiar with cybersecurity laws, and there are differences in the education methods chosen by students in different majors. Students majoring in computer-related fields prefer more specialized knowledge. This study not only provides valuable insights into the prevailing state of CSA among college students but also offers effective recommendations for enhancing cybersecurity education practices in colleges. The findings underscore the importance of addressing weaknesses in password practices and emphasize the need for comprehensive educational approaches that encompass various facets of cybersecurity. Institutions should consider tailoring their instructional strategies to meet the unique needs of students from diverse academic disciplines. Moreover, fostering awareness of cybersecurity laws and regulations is crucial for all students, regardless of their major.