Information Security Course Research Articles

Silos to Synergy: Harnessing Integrated Learning for Improved Outcomes

Abstract— In recent days, integrated learning emerges as a potent pedagogical approach, intertwining diverse subjects to foster comprehensive education for millennial learners. Its benefits span across enhanced learning outcomes, improved critical thinking, creative problem solving, and engaged learning. The research study aims to create an effective integrated learning experience for the undergraduate students of information technology program. Around 65 students of fifth semester B.Tech IT program and three faculty members have participated in the research study. Project-Based Learning (PBL) has been adapted to creating meaningful cross-curricular experiences. The proposed PBL enables the learners to develop simulations for various cryptographic algorithms which were learnt in the course on Information security. The project also intertwines the concepts covered in other courses like Web Technologies, Software Testing and System Thinking. The PBL has been carefully designed with focus on problem statements, learning goals, project milestones, calendar and rubrics for assessment. Simulations developed by the learners in teams are integrated to create a complete software package which could serve as a virtual lab for cryptography and information security course. The experimental study on integrated learning has resulted in a usable educational software product for teaching cryptographic algorithms. Also, there is a significant enhancement in the attainment of course outcomes and satisfaction index of the learners. The positive outcome in learning achievements and student engagement affirm integrated learning's value. Various plans to address the implementation challenges in integrated learning are also discussed in the research article. The authors believe that the manuscript will serve as a beginner’s guide to academicians wishing to practice integrated learning in their classrooms. Keywords—Integrated Learning, Project Based Learning, Rubrics, Comprehensive Learning, Learning Outcomes, Product building skills.

Computer Games as a Pedagogical Tool for Creating Cyber Security Awareness

Cyberattacks are increasing world-wide, both on corporate networks and public institutions network. During 2022 hackers were widening their aim to target business collaboration tools such as Slack, Teams, OneDrive, and Google Drive with phishing exploits, making for a rich harvest of sensitive data given that most organizations’ employees continued to work remotely. In the later years we have also seen academic institutions becoming more frequent targets for both cybercriminals and state sponsored hackers. In 2022 the education/research sector was most attacked industry globally, seeing a 43% increase compared to 2021, with an average of 2,314 attacks per organisation every week. Schools and universities have the unique challenge of dealing with children or young adults, many of which use their own devices, work from shared locations, and often connect to public Wi-Fi without thinking of the security concerns. Additionally, Russia’s war on Ukraine has led to an increase in spear-phishing activity targeting educational institutions in NATO countries. This situation calls attention to the need for awareness raising about personal cyber security. In Norway, Nord University is one of a few universities with specific focus on security and preparedness, including cyber security awareness. The university has two information security courses: one belonging to furthering education and one within the MBA-study program in Security and Preparedness Management. This paper examines the question whether serious games and online quizzes can create heighten cyber security awareness and motivate individual students to change their cyber security behaviour. The paper reports on the findings based on written reflection notes from students belonging to both courses. The technique of examination and interpretation applied to the data was qualitative thematic content analysis supported by computer-assisted qualitative data analysis software NVivo. Theoretical analysis was guided by social constructionist perspective on knowledge creation. While many advantages of the use of online quizzes and computer games were specified by students, challenges were identified as well. However, the findings show that the use of serious games and online quizzes can be an efficient approach to raising security awareness among participating students.

Information Security for Small Business Course Proposal and Design

These days small businesses deploy different information systems to be more competitive and efficient, at the same time , which leads to different cyber attacks. To reduce the possible infrastructure damage and financial loss, business owners need to be aware of and recognize these various attacks, and know how to reduce or prevent them. 
 In this paper, to help with the local small business owners, we propose an information security course especially designed for educating the business owners in cyber security for small business-related fields. This paper examines the course design details including the course structure, main contents, different exercises and main challenges.

An Effective Instructional Design to Enhance Learning Outcomes of Information Security Course in Online Mode

The course on Information Security deals with the processes and tools for protecting sensitive digital data from disruption, modification and destruction in cyber space. This course is offered as a programme core during the third year of study in the undergraduate curriculum of various engineering programmes such as Computer Science and Engineering and Information Technology. The demand for graduating engineers with the technical skills to detect, respond to, and prevent cyberattacks is at an all-time high. Having understood the potential job market for Cyber Security Professionals, the syllabus of the Information Security course at Thiagarajar College of Engineering, Madurai has been carefully designed in collaboration with industrial experts. The course also provides the necessary foundation for certification exams like Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) and for pursuing a master’s degree with specialization in Information Security. Because of pandemic, the course has to be delivered in online mode with no compromise in quality. A wide variety of simulation tools, programming assignments, active and collaborative learning techniques, Problem based Learning have been included in the instructional design to create an effective online learning environment. Exclusive rubrics were created for assessing teamwork, ethics and communication. The paper presents a detailed impact analysis of the customized instructional design in improving the attainment of learning outcomes, student engagement and satisfaction. The experimental study has been carried out in a student group of 138 members from the undergraduate programme on Information Technology at our institute in the academic year 2020-21. Adoption of multiple teaching learning strategies has shown significant improvement in the performance of learners in continuous assessment tests and terminal examinations. The satisfaction index of the learners analysed from course end surveys and informal feedback and is found to be significantly high. Keywords— Active Learning; Collaborative Learning; Information Security; Higher Order Thinking Skills; Learning Outcome Attainment; Student Engagemen

Інформаційна безпека життєдіяльності людини і суспільства в умовах війни

The large-scale war started in Ukraine caused an intense surge of informational aggression and informational confrontation, the waves of which spread almost all over the world. Artificially prepared information is used as a weapon that works no less effectively than army weapons. The purpose of information weapons is primarily human consciousness and mass consciousness. Information security of human life and society in the conditions of intense information war becomes a priority task, as a guarantee of physical security. In the information war, which in the conditions of a flarge-scale military operations in Ukraine has become no less hot, new features and peculiarities are obvious: openness and frankness of information influences; the global nature of the information war; aggravation of information clashes, disputes, disputes; intensity of information attacks; attempts to disable military and infrastructure facilities by means of information; aggressiveness of information actions; informational violence; strict restrictions on access to information; politicization of information; significant polarization of information; an increase in the share of emotional coloring and subjective interpretation relative to the share of facts. Based on an overview of the scale of the informational impact on society and the destructive consequences, it can be argued that information is one of the weapons of mass impression. The best ways to counter informational influences and aggression are to provide true and comprehensive information; education of the population in the form of information security courses; individual trainings, especially for responsible persons; training of information security trainers; broad propaganda and development of information culture in the information society; media education - schools and information literacy courses for the population; learning the rules of information hygiene, prudence and legibility when contacting information. In particular, it is necessary to teach citizens critical thinking and recognition of negative informational influences, manipulation, misinformation, falsification, etc.

Analysis of Activity Logs of GakuNin LMS in the Use of the Information Security Course at Gunma University

The GakuNin LMS operated by the National Institute of Informatics (NII) provides an information security teaching course called “Princess Rin-Rin's security column”. Gunma University extensively encourages students, faculty members, and staff to take this course. In this paper, we have classified the participants who took this course at Gunma University in the first semester of 2022 according to their course status and the results of the final test. Hierarchical clustering and K-means clustering, which are unsupervised learning methods, were used for the classification. The course status was classified into eight clusters, and the result of the final test was into four clusters. We have identified the most excellent cluster of the final test by investigating the clusters where the participants complete the final test with fewer attempts and in a shorter period of time. Furthermore, we have identified clusters of course status that include relatively good participants compared to the overall average using the relation between the clusters of course status and the clusters of final tests.

The impact of CDIO's dimensions and values on IT Learner's attitude and behavior: A regression model using Partial Least Squares

CDIO (Conceiving-Designing-Implementing-Operating), crowdsourcing and gamification are gaining more popularity in IT education. However, factors that influence learners' attitude toward this method are yet to be discovered. Therefore, this study aims to develop and test a conceptual model of implementing CDIO-based curriculum in IT education. For this purpose, CDIO dimensions were conceptualized and developed into questionnaire items. Then 141 students who experienced the CDIO method in information security course and lab, were sampled through action-research approach to investigate their perceptions and experiences about the learning stages, dimensions and values of this teaching method. Data gathered were analyzed by multiple regression algorithm using Partial Least Squares-Structural Equation Modeling (PLS-SEM) statistical approach. The results reveal that the ‘mastery of the concept’, ‘implement and operate’, ‘perceived values’, ‘demonstration and resources’, and ‘admin’ could significantly (in direct and indirect paths) affect learner's intention to accept the CDIO method and adopt it in IT classes. Finally, implications to theory and practice were indicated, and future research directions were suggested.

Using the ARCS model to improve undergraduates’ perceived information security protection motivation and behavior

The ARCS (attention, relevance, confidence, and satisfaction) model was used to design an information security (InfoSec) course, and its effects on students' perceived InfoSec protection motivation and their InfoSec behavior were explored. A quasi-experimental design was adopted in this research. The participants were 147 undergraduates who took liberal arts courses in a university in southern Taiwan. There were 68 students in the experimental group and 79 in the control group. The specific teaching strategies of the ARCS model based on the Protection Motivation Theory were used to explore students' learning outcomes. The results of the study revealed that after attending the course that applied the ARCS model, the experimental group students outperformed their counterparts in terms of perceived InfoSec protection motivation (perceived severity, vulnerability, response efficacy, self-efficacy, and response costs). Meanwhile, the experimental group students’ self-report frequencies of problematic InfoSec behavior were lower than those of the control group students. These findings imply that InfoSec education using the ARCS model in the liberal arts education courses of universities has potential.

Exploration and practice of curriculum ideological and Political Construction Reform ——Take "information security" course as an example

According to the goal of " Curriculum ideological and politics", taking information security course as an example, focusing on the leading ideology facing the frontier of international scientific application, facing the national major needs and facing the main battlefield of economy, through the penetration of Frontier Science and technology and national security regulations into the curriculum practice, the teaching cases in the information security course are excavated, and a set of Curriculum System Integrating Ideological and political and curriculum content is formed. Cultivate and practice the socialist core values and guide students to be human and do things correctly.

Empirical Evidence for a Descriptive Model of Principles of Information Security Course

The purpose of this study is to examine the nature and content of the rapidly evolving undergraduate Principles of Information/Cybersecurity course which has been attracting an ever-growing attention in the computing discipline, for the past decade. More specifically, it is to provide an impetus for the design of standardized principles of Information/Cybersecurity course. To achieve this, a survey of colleges and universities that offer the course was conducted. Several schools of engineering and business, in universities and colleges across several countries were surveyed to generate necessary data. Effort was made to direct the questionnaire only to Computer Information System (CIS), Computer Science (CS), Management Information System (MIS), Information System (IS) and other computer-related departments. The study instrument consisted of two main parts: one part addressed the institutional demographic information, while the other focused on the relevant elements of the course. There are sixty-two (62) questionnaire items covering areas such as demographics, perception of the course, course content and coverage, teaching preferences, method of delivery and course technology deployed, assigned textbooks and associated resources, learner support, course assessments, as well as the licensure-based certifications. Several themes emerged from the data analysis: (a) the principles course is an integral part of most cybersecurity programs; (b) majority of the courses examined, stress both strong technical and hands-on skills; (c) encourage vendor-neutral certifications as a course exit characteristic; and (d) an end-of-course class project, remains a standard requirement for successful course completion. Overall, the study makes it clear that cybersecurity is a multilateral discipline, and refuses to be confined by context and content. It is envisaged that the results of this study would turn out to be instructive for all practical purposes. We expect it to be one of the most definitive descriptive models of such a cardinal course, and help to guide and actually, shape the decisions of universities and academic programs focusing on information/cyber security in the updating and upgrading their curricula, most especially, the foundational principles course in light of new findings that are herein articulated.

Development of Serious Games for Teaching Information Security Courses

Serious games have been used effectively in many educational domains. Games may be utilized efficiently to attract students to information security track. Learning practical knowledge about information security from a game is more engaging and less time consuming than learning through textbooks. Games that closely emulate real-world systems can improve learning about computer security above and beyond just reading technical documents and textbooks. From this perspective, this paper presents six serious games with various genres for teaching information security courses and evaluate their effectiveness as an efficient teaching tool. The study also determines which game genre is the most suitable for delivering educational contents. The obtained results proved and confirmed the hypothesis that educational games have a positive impact as a pedagogic tool on the educational process. According to users preferences', action/adventure game genre is the most preferred game genre followed by role-play.

The information security awareness of the Slovakian kindergarten teacher students at starting and finishing the study in higher education

In this paper we have analysed the changing of the kindergarten teacher-education students' awareness of information security at J. Selye University in Slovakia. Because there are sensitive data about children stored in the kindergarten (e.g. home address, parents' details, medical records, etc.), it deeply matters how careful is the data stored. Thorough data protection is important in order to avoid the digitally stored information to be viewable by other persons, who can use them for malicious purposes (e.g. social engineering, kidnapping, murder). This requires appropriate care and protection of storage and handling. In our research we wanted to know what level of information security awareness characterizes the kindergarten teacher-education students, whether they are aware of the basic data protection aspects. We want to see the higher education without any information security course have gained the information security awareness of the kindergarten teacher-education students or not.

Research on the Curriculum System of Information Security and Management Specialty in Higher Vocational Education Based on Post Competency Model

As a way of human resource management and evaluation, post competency model has been widely used in Enterprises. This paper introduces the theory of post competency into the system construction of information security course in higher vocational colleges, refining the post competency elements, establishing the competency model, and constructing the professional curriculum system based on post competency, and all-round implementation of teaching competence in teaching organization.

Account management system linked to information security course

<b>Account management system linked to information security course</b>

Virtual World-Based Information Security Learning: Design and Evaluation

There has been a growing interest and enthusiasm for the application of virtual worlds in learning and training. This research proposes a design framework of a virtual world-based learning environment that integrates two unique features of the virtual world technology, immersion and interactivity, with an instructional strategy that promotes self-regulatory learning. We demonstrate the usefulness and assess the effectiveness of our design in the context of information security learning. In particular, the information security learning module implemented in Second Life was incorporated into an Introduction to Information Security course. Data from pre- and post-learning surveys were used to evaluate the effectiveness of the learning module. Overall, the results strongly suggest that the virtual world-based learning environment enhances information security learning, thus supporting the effectiveness of the proposed design framework. Additional results suggest that learner traits have an important influence on learning outcomes through perceived enjoyment. The study offers useful design and implementation guidelines for organizations and universities to develop a virtual world-based learning environment. It also represents an initial step towards the design and explanation theories of virtual world-based learning environments.

Reform and practice of blended learning-oriented courses of Information Security

Based on the analysis of blended learning characteristics, a blended learning process model including preliminary analysis, learning activities design, blended evaluation was constructed. Then, a blended learning case study was carried out by taking the Fourth Military Medical University Information Security course as an example. The implement methods of setting learning goal, selecting learning content, constructing learning environment, organizing learning activities and course evaluation, were described in detail. Lastly, from the effectiveness questionnaire, it could be shown that blended learning motivated the learners' enthusiasm significantly. In order to improve the learning performance, we proposed that blended learning activities must be flexible and adaptive, and integrate face-to-face learning with online learning effectively. Key words: Blended learning; Teaching reform; Case study; Information technology

On the enhancement of teaching method for information security course

There is a common consensus that information security courses at undergraduate level should teach principles of the field in a theoretical fashion. It is perceived that most of the information taught using this method are either outdated with respect to current developments in security technology or lost after graduation as theoretical information easily slips from the students' minds after the final exams. This is because this information is not tied to practical experience. Although some courses tried to provide a remedy to this obstacle by including lab sessions, they are considered not to be enough as they offer only exercises. The course outcomes will be highly beneficial to the students combined with hands on experience, implementing theories and exercises on a real life project. This paper focuses on enhancing the teaching method of information security course with an aim of acquiring better understanding and comprehension by the students to make it more beneficial in their future real life careers. The implementation of this enhancement shows an improvement in a students' marks average in comparison with students who took the course without applying for the proposed improvement.

A Comparison of Virtual Lab Solutions for Online Cyber Security Education

INTRODUCTION Over past decade, there has been a rapid expansion of using practical laboratory exercises to instruct information security courses using online in both academic and commercial settings. WebCT/Blackboard, Desire to Learn, Pearson Learning Studio and proprietary systems such as UMUC's WebTycho, are just some examples of learning management systems (LMS) that have been used in support of online higher education degree programs. The primary advantages of LMS are to facilitate student learning by incorporating a variety of online technologies including web mail, chat rooms, group collaboration and discussion boards along with serving as central repository for course content. However, when it comes to instructing technology-based courses, including information security courses, online educational offerings have something in common with traditional face-to-face instructional methods (e.g., lectures, literature review, reading assignment, etc.) in that while being essential they are not sufficient in themselves. To supplement their online degree programs, several educational institutions have implemented hands-on labs (often called virtual labs) using virtualization (Burd, Seazzu, & Conway, 2009; Fuertes, Lopez de Vergara, & Meneses, 2009; Li, Jones, & Augustus, 2011; Li, Toderick & Lunsford, 2009; Rajendran, Veilumuthu, & Divya, 2010; Tao, Chen, & Lin, 2010; Willems & Meinel, 2008, 2012; Yen, 2010; Zenebe & Anyiwo, 2010). The use of hands on labs, in support of learning outcomes, is strongly supported by educational theory as a productive and effective pedagogical practice. Major theories that support use of this include Tomei's (2001) taxonomy and Gardner's (1993) theory of multiple intelligences. Tomei's taxonomy is a widely accepted educational model that provides framework for proper use of in classroom. The virtual lab touches on many of levels of Tomei's taxonomy and provides students with valuable higher order experiences. In exploration-teaching paradigm, students begin with a directed experience of fundamental principles underlying concepts being taught. This experience is then modified systematically to demonstrate refinements of these principles. Ultimately, students can use ways these refinements are structured to try out additional modifications on their own initiative. Tomei's Taxonomy is a widely accepted educational model that provides framework for proper use of in classroom (Powell et al., 2008). Instructional at this level of taxonomy offers numerous strategies that encourage learning by infusing into curriculum. The application of for integration represents the creation of new technology-based materials, combining otherwise disparate technologies to teach (Tomei, 2001, p. 20). The objective of integration is to develop new, previously non-existent, innovative instructional materials to enhance learning experience. For example, infusion aligns itself well with decision-making and integration levels of Tomei's taxonomy. At decision-making level, students must apply electronic tools for research and problem solving (Tomei, 2001, p. 20). Additionally, virtual lab exercises allow both students and instructors to consider consequences of inappropriate uses of technology and also allows them to assimilate into a personal learning style (Tomei, 2001, p. 20. These instructional activities align with Integration level of Tomei's Taxonomy and further reinforce higher order skills that provide students with an enriching online learning experience. Table 3 in Appendix B illustrates how infusion of virtual labs for two UMUC Cybersecurity courses corresponds to Tomei's taxonomy. …

Virtual Lab for Online Cyber Security Education

INTRODUCTION There has been a rapid expansion of using practical laboratory exercises to instruct information security courses using online technology in both academic and commercial settings. WebCT, Blackboard, and UMUC's internally developed WebTycho, are just some examples of learning management systems (LMS), that have been used in support of online higher education degree programs. The primary advantages of these LMS are to facilitate student learning by incorporating a variety of online technologies including web mail, chat rooms, group collaboration and discussion boards along with serving as central repository for course content. However, when it comes to instructing technology based courses, including information security courses, online educational offerings have something in common with traditional face to face instructional methods (e.g., lectures, literature review, reading assignment, etc.) in that while being essential they are not sufficient in themselves. To supplement their online degree programs, several educational institutions have implemented hands-on labs (often called virtual labs) using virtualization technology (Burd, 2009; Fuertes et al., 2009; Li et al., 2009, 2011; Rajendran et al., 2010; Tao et al., 2010; Willems & Meinel, 2008, 2012; Yen, 2010; Zenebe & Anyiwo, 2010). The use of hands on labs, in support of learning outcomes, is strongly supported by educational theory as a productive and effective pedagogical practice. Major theories that support the use of this technology include Bloom's Taxonomy and Gardener's theory of Multiple Intelligences. It is a commonly held belief that students learn more efficiently when engaged in higher order thinking. Hands-on lab exercises provide the means to challenge students with these higher order tasks. The use of virtual lab technology is focused in the analysis, synthesis, and evaluation areas of the taxonomy. This is evidenced by the use of the technology in the classroom. As the students are using the virtual lab, they are constantly forced to make very quick connections between what they know and what they are experiencing. In addition, the real-time environment provides an excellent opportunity for the students to make predictions regarding network intrusion and hacker behavior and to test assumptions without damaging an existing network infrastructure. This type of learning and experimenting is an essential element of an effective information security curriculum. In addition, a virtual lab infrastructure can provide a flexible and cost-effective platform that allow for running multiple operating systems and for sharing computing resources. University of Maryland University College (UMUC) founded in 1947, has been offering online courses since 1985. As cyber attacks are being waged all over the world the demand for cyber security professionals has never been greater, UMUC began offering its graduate level online cyber security degree program in Fall 2010 that included launching a computing laboratory based on virtualization technology. The virtual lab requirements included the following objectives: R1. Accessible, secure and seamless access must be provided to the remote virtual lab. This means students will not have to reserve a time to use a virtual resource and that online lab service must be available around the clock, 365 days a year. R2. The remote virtual server must reliably serve a significant number of concurrent users with limited resources. No significant delay should be observed with a large number of concurrent users. R3. The virtual machine (VM) must be configured with the appropriate operating system(s) and include the required security tools for each lab exercise. In order to minimize requirements for students (e.g., configuring or installing software on their own machines), a pool of virtual machines (VM)s and a cloud based network are necessary. R4. Students must have privileged access rights on the virtual machines to execute security or network tools. …

Knowledge Management Integrated Web based Course Tutoring System

In this study, model and evaluation of WebCoach which works as new approach for LCMS is going to be presented. It is a web based tutoring system which uses knowledge management techniques to convert the tacit knowledge of experienced lecturers and experts into explicit knowledge. The instructional contents, quizzes and assessments, glossary of terms for information security course were prepared, compiled and organized by this tutoring system. They can be used and reused as learning objects to support learning. A comparison of WebCoach and other LCMS is given. A conceptual extension model is also presented with contributions such as PLE as a Learning object and Cloud Computing integration. It has been applied at Istanbul Commerce University within the information security course. Course grades and student questionnaires for two groups of undergraduate computer engineering students were analyzed in the scope of this study. The control group did not have access to WebCoach, while the same course was taught via WebCoach in the experimental group. The teaching methodology of the control group was based on classical narrative model. It was observed that the students using WebCoach have achieved better results in quantitative test when compared to the control group students. Moreover, 86% of the students’ opinions were satisfied with the WebCoach system.