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This study investigated the digital existence of the food bank users in a university town in Texas, and subsequently, aligned with the research's pragmatic focus, the researchers designed a training model for these food bank users. Two research questions guided the study: What are the digital existence levels of the food bank users, and what training model would best serve these food bank users? Data were collected by means of a survey from 230 individual food bank users representing households. Additional data included observations and conversations with food bank staff, and documents and materials from the site which provided deeper insights. The study found that the food bank users (1) had little to no broadband connectivity; (2) possessed limited digital devices which revealed significant barriers to their digital existence; and (3) had feelings of desperation, vulnerability and isolation. Regarding training offered at no cost, the food bank users did not show much interest, which was attributed to the food bank users' insufficient digital knowledge. The three-level training model was designed with the following objectives: (1) Prepare participants for training; (2) introduce the concept of "digital;" and (3) teach basic computing and cybersecurity skills. To implement this training, an interactive learner-centric model was created demonstrating collaboration among university instructors, volunteer students and the food bank staff. The study concluded that to exist in digital societies affordable broadband connectivity, needs-based devices, and continual support and training were needed for such underserved groups.

Generative artificial intelligence (AI) tools were met with a mix of enthusiasm, skepticism, and fear. AI adoption soared as people discovered compelling use cases--developers wrote code, realtors generated narratives for their websites, students wrote essays, and much more. Calls for caution attempted to temper AI enthusiasm. Experts highlighted inaccuracies in some of the generated information. Artists, writers, programmers, and other professionals who create for a living questioned their job security. Educators worried that these tools would harm academic integrity. Nevertheless, the tools persist, and AI enthusiasm shows no sign of abating. The current study focuses on how AI tools can be leveraged to improve self-directed learning in the classroom. In a capstone cybersecurity course, the instructor encouraged students to use ChatGPT 3.5 on a self-directed learning assignment to select topics, find learning resources, and carry out their learning plans. Some students did not use ChatGPT. Those who used ChatGPT found it to be a helpful learning aid. All students reported that they plan to use ChatGPT for self-directed learning after graduating. No student violated academic integrity policies. The results demonstrate that AI tools can enhance self-directed learning, though students should be trained to use them effectively. Recommendations for developing assignments that support academic integrity and rigor in the age of AI are provided.

The role of ethics becomes even more significant given the huge advent and increase of cyber-criminal activities in cyberspace. It has become an urgent necessity to curb the menace of unethical practices in cyberspace and contribute ethical guidelines to a safe and secure digital environment. To minimize the growth of cybercrimes and unethical issues online, users must understand how existing societal norms and ethics can be extended according to the challenges posed by ethical dilemmas in cyberspace. Hence, understanding the importance of cyber ethics in daily life has become essential than ever before. Cyber ethics implies the rules of social engagement and responsibility in cyberspace; it is really about social responsibility in cyberspace and it is aimed at inculcating knowledge of responsible behavior in man when using the online environment. This paper is an attempt to provide an overview of the relevance of cyber ethics education in fostering responsible behavior online.

Open and distance learning (ODL) activities aim to meet the expectations and needs of different individuals, societies, and systems by ensuring the continuation of learning with a lifelong learning philosophy and an egalitarian policy for everyone, regardless of time and place. Support services, which address the differentiated expectations and needs in all learning-related activities, serve the learning processes and the various stakeholders involved. Therefore, technical support services are included in support activities that require the use of technology as a tool, mediator, or technique in learning processes. In this study, ODL systems that are situated in digital space are examined within the scope of technical support services in line with the threats and dangers of the developing and expanding digital space. The aim is to create a technical support service model based on Herbert Simon's Bounded Rationality Theory and Otto Peters' Industrialization Theory, to ensure cybersecurity in ODL systems. In this study, which adopted a case study as one of the qualitative research methods, documents in the literature were examined first. Considering the literature, the opinions of eight field experts were gathered by ten interview questions. After the semi-structured interviews were transcribed, the data obtained were divided into codes and themes through thematic analysis. The findings stressed the importance of institutional culture, distribution of tasks and responsibilities, administrative support, institutional awareness, cybersecurity training, and the use of different technologies to ensure cybersecurity in ODL systems. Additionally, the experts emphasized a common view that smart systems should be used in the provision and maintenance of cybersecurity.

Recent advances in Artificial Intelligence (AI) have brought society closer to the long-held dream of creating machines to help with both common and complex tasks and functions. From recommending movies to detecting disease in its earliest stages, AI has become an aspect of daily life many people accept without scrutiny. Despite its functionality and promise, AI has inherent security risks that users should understand and programmers must be trained to address. The ICE (integrity, confidentiality, and equity) cybersecurity labs developed by a team of cybersecurity researchers addresses these vulnerabilities to AI models through a series of hands-on, inquiry-based labs. Through experimenting with and manipulating data models, students can experience firsthand how adversarial samples and bias can degrade the integrity, confidentiality, and equity of deep learning neural networks, as well as implement security measures to mitigate these vulnerabilities. This article addresses the pedagogical approach underpinning the ICE labs, and discusses both sample activities and technological considerations for teachers who want to implement these labs with their students.

This paper reviews cybersecurity laws and regulations in Cameroon, focusing on cybersecurity and information security audits and risk assessments. The importance of cybersecurity risk assessment and the implementation of security controls to cure deficiencies noted during risk assessments or audits is a critical step in developing cybersecurity resilience. Cameroon's cybersecurity legal framework provides for audits but does not explicitly enumerate controls. Consequently, integrating relevant controls from the NIST frameworks and ISO Standards can improve the cybersecurity posture in Cameroon while waiting for a comprehensive revision of the legal framework. NIST and ISO are internationally recognized as best practices in information security systems and cybersecurity risk management. This paper highlights the lack of specific international law provisions addressing cybersecurity audits and risk assessments. Overall, the paper highlights the importance of continuous risk assessment and monitoring, implementation of security controls, and compliance with organizational policies, relevant laws and regulations to ensure the adequate protection of information systems. Finally, the paper underscores the importance of improving Cameroon's cybersecurity regulations by integrating provisions from NIST and ISO.

The cybersecurity threat landscape evolves quickly, continually, and consequentially. This means that the "transfer" of cybersecurity learning is crucial. We compared how different recognized "cognitive" transfer theories might help explain and synergize three aspects of cybersecurity education. These include "teaching and training" in diverse settings, "assessing learning" formatively & summatively, and "testing & measuring" achievement, proficiency, & readiness. We excluded newer sociocultural theories and their implications for inclusion as we explore those theories elsewhere. We first summarized the history of cybersecurity education and proficiency standards considering transfer theories. We then explored each theory and reviewed the most relevant cybersecurity education research; in some cases, we broadened our search to computing education. We concluded that (a) archaic "differential" transfer theories are still influential but have negative implications to be avoided, (b) "constructionist" theories are popular in K-12 settings but raise issues for assessment and transfer, (c) many embrace a "general cognitive science perspective" that can resolve tensions between modern "cognitive-associationist" and "cognitive-constructivist" theories that are popular with innovators, and (d) new "perceptual" and "coordinative" theories have potential worth exploring. These insights should support "generative" cybersecurity learning that transfers readily and widely to future classes, tests, and workplaces. These insights should be beneficial when designing and using cyber "ranges" and other hyper-realistic simulations, where transfer assumptions inform costly design decisions and undergird the validity of performance as evidence of proficiency.

This article explores the results of a project aimed at supporting community college students in their academic pursuit of an Associate of Applied Science (AAS) degree in Cybersecurity through mentorship, collaboration, skill preparation, and other activities and touch points to increase students' sense of belonging and connectedness in the cybersecurity profession. The goal of the project was focused on developing diverse, educated, and skilled cybersecurity personnel for employment within local industry and government to help curtail the current regional cybersecurity workforce gap that is emblematic of the lack of qualified cybersecurity personnel that presently exists nationwide. Emphasis throughout the project was placed on community building so that students felt a part of the cybersecurity community. A project community survey was distributed to students as both a pre-test when they began the project in Year 1 at the start of their cybersecurity coursework, and again as a post-test at the conclusion of Year 2 when they finished their cybersecurity program. Two project cohorts were employed, and the survey questionnaire measured students' sense of connectedness and level of learning within the project environment. The results showed a marked increase in both constructs from the pre- to post-survey indicating that students felt a greater sense of community as they moved through the project and experienced increased learning through their cybersecurity program. The study concluded that increased feelings of connectedness to the project activities through authentic shared learning experiences promoted belonging and provided social and academic supports to help project students be successful in their cybersecurity academic program and going forward in the in-demand cybersecurity vocation throughout their professional careers.

A trained workforce is needed to protect operational technology (OT) and industrial control systems (ICS) within national critical infrastructure and critical industries. However, what knowledge, skills, and credentials are employers looking for in OT cybersecurity professionals? To best train the next generation of OT cybersecurity professionals, an understanding of current OT cybersecurity position requirements is needed. Thus, this work analyzes 100 OT cybersecurity positions to provide insights on key prerequisite requirements such as prior professional experience, education, industry certifications, security clearances, programming expertise, soft verbal and written communication skills, knowledge of OT frameworks, standards, and network communication protocols, and position travel. We found that OT cybersecurity roles are typically nonentry level, as experience was the most common requirement, and was required on 95% of analyzed positions. Possession of a bachelor's degree or higher was required for 82% of positions, while industry certifications such as the Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) or the Global Information Assurance Certification (GIAC) Global Industrial Cyber Security Professional (GICSP) were listed on 64% of positions. Knowledge of OT or IT frameworks and standards and strong communication skills were listed on 48% of positions, while programming expertise, possession of a United States security clearance, and knowledge of OT or IT networking protocols were required for 18%, 24%, and 27% of positions, respectively. A work travel requirement was listed on 29% of positions. Individuals seeking to enter the OT cybersecurity field, and educational programs focusing on training OT cybersecurity professionals should prioritize obtaining experience, education, and certification, possessing strong communication skills, and knowledge of relevant OT and IT industry standards and frameworks.

Cybersecurity has become increasingly important not only in the technology sector but in criminal justice professions as well, and significant challenges have arisen as a result. However, these challenges are not well discussed in the literature. To address this gap, and to study the cybersecurity trends impacting criminal justice professionals and the skills, knowledge and abilities criminal justice students need to succeed upon graduation, this research focuses on the role cybersecurity plays in the jobs that compose the main components of the criminal justice system and adjacent areas: law enforcement, the judicial process, corrections, social work, and military. This research utilizes semi-structured interviews with current and recently retired practitioners. Findings from this study revealed eight broad themes, many of which are complementary including changing technologies, generational gaps, over reliance on information technology professionals, and best practices for education composed of experiential learning, soft skills, specialized curriculum and interdisciplinary approaches.

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.

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.

Cyberbiosecurity and workforce development in agriculture and the life sciences (ALS) is a growing area of need in the curriculum in higher education. Students that pursue majors related to ALS often do not include training in cyber-related concepts or expose the 'hidden curriculum' of seeking internships and jobs. Exposing students through workforce development training and hands-on engagement with industry professionals can provide learning opportunities to bridge the two and is an area of growth and demand as the workforce evolves. The objectives of this work were (1) to learn key concepts in cybersecurity, including data security, visualization, and analysis, to name a few, through class activities and engagement with professional partners and (2) to understand what knowledge students gained from participating in the course could transfer over for when they enter the workforce. Three themes emerged from the study where students, through direct engagement with industry partners, gained more insight about the industry applicable to their studies; they established work environment expectations for entering internships and official job placements and established ways in which the workforce development training informed their future careers.

This paper investigates the integration of blockchain technology into core systems within institutions of higher education, utilizing the National Institute of Standards and Technology's (NIST) Cybersecurity Framework as a guiding framework. It supplies definitions of key terminology including blockchain, consensus mechanisms, decentralized identity, and smart contracts, and examines the application of secure blockchain across various educational functions such as enrollment management, degree auditing, and award processing. Each facet of the NIST Framework is utilized to explore the integration of blockchain technology and address persistent security concerns. The paper contributes to the literature by defining blockchain technology applications and opportunities within the education sector.

Research indicates that deceitful videos tend to spread rapidly online and influence people's opinions and ideas. Because of this, video misinformation via deepfake video manipulation poses a significant online threat. This study aims to discover what factors can influence viewers' capability to distinguish deepfake videos from genuine video footage. This work focuses on exploring deepfake videos' potential use for deception and misinformation by exploring people's ability to determine whether videos are deepfakes in a survey consisting of deepfake videos and original unedited videos. The participants viewed a set of four videos and were asked to judge whether the videos shown were deepfakes or originals. The survey varied the familiarity that the viewers had with the subjects of the videos. Also, the number of videos shown at one time was manipulated. This survey showed that familiarity with subjects has a statistically significant impact on how well people can determine a deepfake. Notably, however, almost two-thirds of study participants (102 out of 154, or 66.23%) were unable to correctly identify a sequence of just four videos as either genuine or deepfake. This study provides insights into possible considerations for countering disinformation and deception resulting from the misuse of deepfakes.

This study examines cybersecurity awareness in universities by analyzing related research output across different disciplines at the University of Johannesburg. The diffusion of innovation theory is used in this study as a theoretical framework to explain how cybersecurity awareness diffuses across disciplines. The University of Johannesburg Institutional Repository database was the data source for this study. Variations in cybersecurity keyword searches and topic modeling techniques were used to identify the frequency and distribution of research output across different disciplines. The study reveals that cybersecurity awareness has diffused across various disciplines, including non-computer science disciplines such as business, accounting, and social sciences. However, there are significant differences in cybersecurity awareness across academic disciplines, highlighting the need for targeted efforts to promote cybersecurity awareness in underrepresented academic disciplines and for intra and interdisciplinary collaboration.

With the development of technology, security, a core human concern throughout history, has changed and branched out into new areas. Novel security concepts, including environmental security, economic security, and cybersecurity, have emerged as a result of these expanding areas. The importance of cybersecurity has increased in the linked world of today as a result of how prevalent technology is in our daily lives. This study looks at how the literature on international relations approaches the idea of cybersecurity, with an emphasis on the role gender dynamics play. This study adopts a comprehensive strategy in recognition of the possibility that people of all genders may be affected by the dominant gender roles. The study seeks a comprehensive understanding of cybersecurity by utilizing a mixed-methods research methodology that incorporates both qualitative and quantitative techniques. Conducting in-depth interviews with young adults (ages 18 to 27) who identify as people of different genders will be part of the field research. Various aspects of cybersecurity, such as perceptions of cybersecurity, understanding of security, and encounters with cyber dangers, will be covered in these interviews. The research will be carried out in both Turkey and Italy, enabling a comparison of the cybersecurity laws and conditions in these two nations. This study aims to give a fresh viewpoint by combining theoretical underpinnings with empirical fieldwork. The survey data will also be subjected to statistical analysis. The study's findings will shed light on how young adults' perceptions of cybersecurity are influenced by gender norms and what that means for cybersecurity laws. This research contributes to the larger discussion on cybersecurity and gender studies by broadening its focus beyond gender as a binary construct and offering insightful information about how gender roles affect cybersecurity views across various identities.

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.

This pilot study aims to assess the acceptability of Open University's training platform called Gamified Intelligent Cyber Aptitude and Skills Training course (GICAST), as a means of improving cybersecurity knowledge, attitudes, and behaviours in undergraduate students using both quantitative and qualitative methods. A mixed-methods, pre-post experimental design was employed. 43 self-selected participants were recruited via an online register and posters at the university (excluding IT related courses). Participants completed the Human Aspects of Information Security Questionnaire (HAIS-Q) and Fear of Missing Out (FoMO) Scale. They then completed all games and quizzes in the GICAST course before repeating the HAIS-Q and FoMO scales as well as several open-ended questions. Pre-training HAIS-Q Knowledge, Attitude and Behaviour all improved from 'reasonable' pre-training levels to become 'very high' following training with large effect sizes estimated. FoMO improved to a lesser degree but also predicted the degree of HAIS-Q improvement suggesting it is relevant to the impact of this training course. Qualitatively, five key themes were generated: enjoyment, engagement, usability of GICAST, content relevance, and perceived educational efficacy. Overall, sentiment towards training was very positive as an enjoyable engaging and usable course. GICAST was found to be a feasible course for a wide range of students at a UK university: overall the training improved cyber-security awareness on a well validated measure with outcomes comparable to information-security-trained employees of a secure workplace. Despite a diversity of views about content, the course appears to be well suited to the non-IT undergraduate sector and may suit wide uptake to enhance students' employability in a wide range of cybersecurity relevant contexts.

The cyber security education market has grownup exponentially, with a CAGR of 13.9 % as reported by Data Intelo. The report published by the World Economic Forum 2023 indicates a shortfall of 2.27 million cyber security experts in 2021 across different roles and hence manifest that Skill-based cyber security education is the need of the hour. Cybersecurity as a field has evolved as a multi-discipline, multi-stakeholder and multi-role discipline. Therefore, the need to address formal education with an outcome-based philosophy is imperative to address for a wider audience with varied past training in their formal education. With the Internet becoming an essential part of human life, providing security of data passed over the Internet is becoming increasingly crucial. Therefore, the role in the organization which is quite demanding is to have expertise in handling and configuring network security, a subdomain of cyber security as a priority area. The rapid increase in the network attack landscape is constantly demanding monitoring of network attacks as well as a need to promote collaborative R&D and education in the sphere of cyber security due to a shortage of skilled resources. Platform-based education is a potential direction to achieve the objective and address the skill gap required in cyber security. The present research proposes a comprehensive web-based platform that can be used to communicate, collaborate and practice various use cases in the domain of network intrusion detection tools using machine learning algorithms and to evaluate user experience. The proposed platform CySecLearn is a collection of various functionalities and features that ensure experiential learning, will help the learner to develop critical thinking and expertise in network security and promote digital literacy in the domain of cyber security.

Cyber threats have escalated in recent years. Many of these threats have been direct and vicious attacks on K-12 systems. Educators are rarely trained on how to address cyber threats from a systemic and educational perspective when such challenges arise in their school buildings. This article explains the cyber threats that are looming large for K-12 systems and provides concrete tools for school leaders to employ in order to provide preventive education to their school communities.

An organization's infrastructure rests upon the premise that cybersecurity professionals have specific knowledge in administrating and protecting it against outside threats. Without this expertise, sensitive information could be leaked to malicious actors and cause damage to critical systems. In order to facilitate this process, the presented work addresses the use of Infrastructure as Code (IaC) and DevOps to automate the deployment of cyber ranges. An approach closely related to virtualization and containerization as the code's underlying infrastructure helps lay down this burden. Notably, placing emphasis on using IaC tools like Ansible eases the process of configuration management and provisioning of a network. Lastly, several up-to-date vulnerabilities that are constantly messing with the lives of individuals and organizations are explored, most related to Privilege Escalation, Remote Code Execution attacks, and Incident Forensics, allowing the improvement of skills concerning Red team and Blue team scenarios. In short, one of the key takeaways of this work is contributing to better prepare specialists in ensuring that the principles of the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Cybersecurity Framework hold, namely: prevent, detect, mitigate, and recover.

In today's digitally connected world, privacy has transformed from a fundamental human right into a multifaceted challenge. As technology enables the seamless exchange of information, the need to protect personal data has grown exponentially. Privacy has emerged as a critical concern in the digital age, as technological advancements continue to reshape how personal information is collected, stored, and utilized. This paper delves into the fundamental principles of privacy and explores the potential harm that can arise from the mishandling of personal data. It emphasizes the delicate balance between safeguarding individuals' privacy rights and fostering innovation in a data-driven society. By analyzing key privacy principles and their implications, this paper explores the foundational privacy principles that define the concept of privacy while delving into the potential harms that can arise when these principles are violated.

In this paper, we present an activity to introduce the idea of public-key cryptography and to make pre-service STEM teachers explore fundamental informatics and mathematical concepts and methods. We follow the Theory of Didactical Situations within the Didactical Engineering methodology (both widely used in mathematics education research) to design and analyse a didactical situation about asymmetric cryptography using graphs. Following the phases of Didactical Engineering, after the preliminary analysis of the content, the constraints and conditions of the teaching context, we conceived and analysed the situation a priori, with a particular focus on the milieu (the set of elements students can interact with) and on the choices for the didactical variables. We discuss their impact on the problem-solving strategies the participants need to elaborate to decrypt an encrypted message. We implemented our situation and collected qualitative data. We then analysed a posteriori the different strategies that participants used. The comparison of the a posteriori analysis with the a priori analysis showed the learning potential of the activity. To elaborate on different problem-solving strategies, the participants need to explore and understand several concepts and methods from mathematics, informatics, and the frontier of the two disciplines, also moving between different semiotic registers.

Whereas hackathons are widespread within and outside academia and have been argued to be a valid pedagogical method for teaching interdisciplinarity, no detailed frameworks or methods are available for conceptualizing and organizing educational hackathons, i.e., hackathons dedicated to best achieving pedagogic objectives. This paper is dedicated to introducing EDUCational Hackathons for learning how to solve Interdisciplinary Challenges (EDUCHIC) through: (1) defining the fundamental principles for framing an activity as an EDUCHIC, integrating principles from pedagogical methods, hackathon organization, and interdisciplinarity processes; (2) describing general properties that EDUCHIC possess as a consequence of the interaction of the fundamental principles; (3) developing operational guidelines for streamlining the practical organization of EDUCHIC, including an exhaustive end-to-end process covering all the steps for organizing EDUCHIC and practical frames for carrying the key decisions to be made in this process; and (4) a demonstration of these guidelines through illustrating their application for organizing a concrete EDUCHIC.

Existing research literature in computing and IT education shows that there has been limited work on investigating how offense based learning approaches using hacks can enhance learning of mobile security topics. In an effort to fill this research gap, we performed an experimental study with a unique, nifty user hack driven offense based learning strategy to effect mobile security awareness and interest in cybersecurity at the high school and middle school levels, as described in this work. A highlight of our novel study is our original CovertEyeOp mobile app, which was designed and developed strategically to be the driving force towards implementing our hacking based offense driven leaning technique. In this research, we carried out a comparative analysis of our app based offense driven learning approach with other relevant works on mobile security education. To conduct experiments with our user hack driven offense based learning strategy, we created a hands on experiential learning activity using our CovertEyeOp app, which educates users about security and privacy issues in mobile devices by hacking them and enabling them to self-discover issues with user permissions given to mobile apps. We offered this unique mobile app based learning activity to 90 participants (both students and teachers) primarily from the high school community across different states over multiple years and have collected quantitative plus qualitive data in the form of survey responses from these various users. Additionally, we discuss our earlier experiments of hosting an older version of our mobile app based lesson with 100 middle school students. We analyze this gathered learner data from the overall 190 participants' survey responses to determine whether our app driven offense based learning approach works and makes a difference in terms of fostering K-12 learning and engagement through acquired evidence of increased mobile security awareness and interest in cybersecurity. Overall, our study results in unique findings that show the prospects, benefits, and efficacy of including a user hack driven offense based learning strategy in K-12 teaching of mobile security topics. In the process, it advocates for the usage of this unique, non-traditional learning approach in cybersecurity education.

Primary school children frequently use digital devices, which can be infected by computer viruses. In this mixed methods paper with two studies (N = 278 + 114), we examined 8-year-olds' preconceptions about computer viruses and protection against them; how to teach these children about said topics using three different, 30-min-long, content-equivalent lessons; and what knowledge the children can acquire. We found that participants had limited prior knowledge of computer viruses and almost no knowledge about protection against them. However, they rarely had misconceptions. They learnt, and retained over a month, key general points and a few specific points about this domain. Acquired knowledge was still somewhat patchy, most likely represented in 'pieces' rather than as complex, theory-like chunks. Nevertheless, all three approaches produced notable learning gains (d > 1.78). A lesson organized around a narrative 5-min video and six < 1 min video snippets was the most effective: compared to a lesson organized around two 5-min videos (d = 0.89) and a teacher-led lesson without videos (d = 0.54). The findings are consistent with contemporary instructional design theories and 'knowledge in pieces' conceptual change frameworks. They imply that the topic of computer viruses should be included in second-graders' curricula.

The growing importance of researching online activities, such as cyber-deviance and cyber-crime, as well as the use of online tools (e.g. questionnaires, games, and other interactive tools) has created new ethical and legal challenges for researchers, which can be even more complicated when researching adolescents. In this article, we highlight the risks emerging from the current European legal and ethical landscape when researching potentially vulnerable groups, with a special focus on online research. It is not always clear how to differentiate research ethics consent from consent for data processing activities: when can an adolescent independently consent to research, or when is parental consent needed? Additional problems emerge when parents do not consent to research activities, but their adolescent children do. A serious ethical challenge can arise when the parents do not communicate with researchers, but the adolescent wishes to participate, especially when weak parental oversight is coupled with research on sensitive topics. We offer some guidance on what to keep in mind when conducting online research with adolescents and highlight possible ways that these issues can be dealt with in pan-European projects.

We propose that psychology graduates are uniquely placed to work in the cybersecurity industry due to their understanding of human behavior and the possession of skills needed to address cybersecurity issues. However, there are challenges in attracting psychology graduates to the cybersecurity industry as they may not be fully aware of how skills developed in a psychology degree can be applied to a cybersecurity career. This small-scale evaluation explored psychology students' understanding of what working in cybersecurity entailed and what psychology skills and knowledge (their psychological literacies) they thought were needed for working in psychology and cybersecurity roles. Undergraduate psychology students (N = 66) answered two open-ended questions about skills needed to work in cybersecurity and then judged the importance of nine psychological literacy items for working in cybersecurity and psychology. A content analysis revealed that students recognized not just the technical aspects of cybersecurity work but also aspects relating to human behavior. Seven of the nine psychological literacy items were perceived as significantly more important for working in psychology than cybersecurity. This study is the first to link psychological literacy to working in cybersecurity. The implications of the results are discussed in terms of supporting students to recognize their psychological literacies for cybersecurity careers and suggestions are made for awareness-raising initiatives.

A qualitative case study focused on understanding what steps are needed to prepare the cybersecurity workforces of 2026-2028 to work with and against emerging technologies such as Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning. Conducted through a workshop held in two parts at a cybersecurity education conference, findings came both from a semi-structured interview with a panel of experts as well as small workgroups of professionals answering seven scenario-based questions. Data was thematically analyzed, with major findings emerging about the need to refocus cybersecurity STEM at the middle school level with problem-based learning, the disconnects between workforce operations and cybersecurity operators, the distrust of Non-Traditional Training Programs, and the need to build digital security generalists' curriculum and training. Recommendations are also made for possible next steps.

The principal investigator (PI) conducted this research study to explore the strategic cybersecurity defense IT Managers should implement to reduce healthcare data breaches. The PI conducted a systematic literature review and selected articles that addressed healthcare data security breaches, information disclosure, cybersecurity in healthcare, and IT Managers' lack of leadership competence. Also, various annotations from contextual, seminal, grey, and recent literature were used to find the research problem: The strategic cybersecurity defense IT Managers should implement to reduce healthcare data breaches has not been established. The PI collected secondary data from the Office of Civil Rights (OCR)/Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). The analysis, results, and findings are provided below in Part 9. Nevertheless, the routine interaction during health information exchange (HIE) on an interoperable network and the behavior of care providers and third parties who use computers and mobile devices to exchange patient data is an opportunity for cybercriminals to install malware or launch a ransomware attack to exploit potential vulnerabilities whether to steal sensitive data or compromise the network systems. Therefore, strategic cyber defense or an innovative security model would mitigate the threat. An exploratory design is used, and an epistemological approach supports the research method and design. The study is significant, and it will contribute to the body of knowledge the PI suggested for future research and provide major recommendations.

This case asks information systems analysts to assess the cybersecurity posture of a manufacturing company. The exercise works well as a group activity in an information systems course that addresses cybersecurity controls. The case introduces guidance from the National Institute of Standards and Technology, and learners develop work products consistent with the standards. The narrative provides high-level summaries of relevant cybersecurity standards. The case is based on a real company and actual projects, but the company name and specific details have been fictionalized and made more abstract to make this case relevant even when specific technologies evolve. Through this experience, students will learn the importance of a defense-in-depth strategy for securing information systems.

Contribution: A novel proactive and collaborative learning paradigm was proposed to engage learners with different backgrounds and enable effective retention and transfer of the multidisciplinary artificial intelligence (AI)-cybersecurity knowledge. Specifically, the proposed learning paradigm contains: 1) an immersive learning environment to motivate the students for exploring AI/ machine learning (ML) development in the context of real-world cybersecurity scenarios by constructing learning models with tangible objects and 2) a proactive education paradigm designed with the use of collaborative learning activities based on game-based learning and social constructivism. Background: Increasing evidence shows that AI techniques can be manipulated, evaded, and misled, which can result in new and profound security implications. There is an education and training gap to foster a qualified cyber-workforce that understands the usefulness, limitations, and best practices of AI technologies in the cybersecurity domain. Efforts have been made to incorporate a comprehensive curriculum to meet the demand. There still remain essential challenges for effectively educating students on the interaction of AI and cybersecurity. Intended Outcomes: A novel proactive and collaborative learning paradigm is proposed to educate and train a qualified cyber-workforce in this new era where security breaches, privacy violations, and AI have become commonplace. Application Design: The development of this learning paradigm is grounded in the pedagogical approaches of technology-mediated learning and social constructivism. Findings: Although the research work is still ongoing, the prototype learning paradigm has shown encouraging results in promoting the learners' engagement in applied AI learning.

The remarkable strides in artificial intelligence (AI), exemplified by ChatGPT, have unveiled a wealth of opportunities and challenges in assessment. Applying cutting-edge large language models (LLMs) and generative AI to assessment holds great promise in boosting efficiency, mitigating bias, and facilitating customized evaluations. Conversely, these innovations raise significant concerns regarding validity, reliability, transparency, fairness, equity, and test security, necessitating careful thinking when applying them in assessments. In this article, we discuss the impacts and implications of LLMs and generative AI on critical dimensions of assessment with example use cases and call for a community effort to equip assessment professionals with the needed AI literacy to harness the potential effectively.

Computer-supported learning technologies are essential for conducting hands-on cybersecurity training. These technologies create environments that emulate a realistic IT infrastructure for the training. Within the environment, training participants use various software tools to perform offensive or defensive actions. Usage of these tools generates data that can be employed to support learning. This paper investigates innovative methods for leveraging the trainee data to provide automated feedback about the performed actions. We proposed and implemented feedback software with four modules that are based on analyzing command-line data captured during the training. The modules feature progress graphs, conformance analysis, activity timeline, and error analysis. Then, we performed field studies with 58 trainees who completed cybersecurity training, used the feedback modules, and rated them in a survey. Quantitative evaluation of responses from 45 trainees showed that the feedback is valuable and supports the training process, even though some features are not fine-tuned yet. The graph visualizations were perceived as the most understandable and useful. Qualitative evaluation of trainees' comments revealed specific aspects of feedback that can be improved. We publish the software as an open-source component of the KYPO Cyber Range Platform. Moreover, the principles of the automated feedback generalize to different learning contexts, such as operating systems, networking, databases, and other areas of computing. Our results contribute to applied research, the development of learning technologies, and the current teaching practice.

Seeking to better understand the longitudinal association between online usage of library-licensed content and short- and long-term student performance, we linked EZproxy logs to institutional university data to study how library usage impacts semester and cumulative GPAs. Panel linear mixed effects regression models indicate online library usage is significantly associated with both semester and cumulative GPAs. The library usage effect is larger for semester GPA, and varies by on- and off-campus residency. The effect on semester GPA is larger for off-campus students, while for cumulative GPA the effect is larger for on-campus students. Longitudinally linked library-institutional data offers key insights on the library's value.

E-Learning Education systems are gaining attention day-to-day because of their inclusive pertinence in the distance education system. Due to COVID-19, the online learning education system has become very popular. Most probably, all education systems have been using the IoT-based E-Learning system to continue the students' education without hindrance during the COVID lockdown. Several E-Learning IoT schemes are explored that reflect privacy and security, but still, there is no detailed scheme; hence, it needs a sustainable, secure E-Learning IoT system. The characteristics and prospects of the Internet of Things are discussed in this article. By analyzing the various functions and capabilities of the Internet of Things, this article aims to provide an overview of the various advantages and challenges of using the platform for e-learning. This paper proposed the E-Learning IoT architecture with Blockchain technology, with layers of different IoT and Blockchain concepts to secure the online education system. Also, the block diagram of the proposed architecture demonstrates how students can securely access or interact with the online learning system through Blockchain technology. By implementing the proposed e-learning IoT architecture, universities and colleges can improve their distance learning programs and increase efficiency without affecting their academic activities. Finally, the study found that e-learning positively impacts students' learning experience and overall quality of education. It also exhibited a significant positive impact on their flexibility and academic productivity.

With the rapid growth of web applications, web application security (WAS) has become an important cybersecurity issue. For effective WAS protection, it is necessary to cultivate and train personnel, especially beginners, to develop correct concepts and practical hands-on abilities through cybersecurity education. At present, many methods offer vulnerable web environments to support practical hands-on training, including large-scale "Capture the Flag" mode (e.g., Cyber Range), pre-configured virtual machine images (e.g., Mutillidae), pre-built stand-alone applications (e.g., WebGoat), and web-based system (e.g., Damn Vulnerable Web Application). However, beginners need not only hands-on training tools and systems but also assistance to support effective learning. Moreover, pre-built training content and exercises are usually not easy to modify and thus lack the flexibility to meet specific teaching needs. Therefore, this study proposed and developed the Web-based Hands-On Learning Environment (WebHOLE) to efficiently assist beginners in learning WAS. To improve the flexibility of the training content, a web-based authoring tool was developed in WebHOLE to create customized hands-on learning exercises. Accordingly, learners can learn and practice the WAS training content online with learning assistance provided by the hands-on learning system. The hands-on abilities of the learners can be efficiently assessed by the hands-on testing system using online exams with progressive hints and automatic grading. Furthermore, to improve the effectiveness of teaching and testing, a portfolio analysis scheme using a data mining technique was developed to identify learning barriers and problematic test items. WebHOLE was applied to an actual beginner-level WAS course for undergraduate students. The experimental results showed the benefits of WebHOLE on WAS learning, with a significant improvement in learning outcomes. Students expressed high satisfaction with WebHOLE's learning assistance, rating it with average satisfaction scores above 4.0 out of 5.0. The portfolio analysis scheme also showed the effectiveness of WebHOLE in identifying learning problems and refining test items.

The COVID-19 pandemic has fast-tracked the development of digital applications and inspired everyone to adapt to the technologies to curb the spread of outbreak. As this crisis intensifies, the rapid usage of digital devices and apps has echoed the serious concerns about civil liberties, privacy, and data protection. Considering the situation, this research aimed to explore the internet using habits of the youths of West Bengal, a state in eastern India, during COVID-19. Besides, the paper explored their experiences of using various digital applications, the fundamental digital literacy and how safely they protect data from breaches. Thus, the paper presents the results by conducting an online survey among the youths in West Bengal. The result, from 215 participants, highlighted that the increased use of these digital applications has not matched the demand for digital privacy literacy among the young generation of the state. While this pandemic has raised their concerns over digital privacy and data protection, yet they do not undertake any strong protection mechanisms to safeguard them digitally. Besides, this paper suggests suitable plans to raise awareness among this generation and form a healthy digital citizenship with a proper regulatory framework as it is the need of the hour.

The Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) refers to the current rapid technological growth that fundamentally changes how humans live. 4IR is essential to improve higher education worldwide and develop crucial skills such as e-learning and innovation, information and media technology, and life and career skills. This study aims to assess the knowledge of the application of the nine pillars of 4IR in Education among STEM teachers in Malaysia. The nine primary pillars of 4IR that create a digital revolution in industries are autonomous robots, augmented reality (AR), system integration, additive manufacturing, cybersecurity, cloud computing, big data and analytics, the internet of things (IoT), and simulation. A quantitative study approach, through a survey questionnaire, is utilized to conduct the study. Meanwhile, a sample size of 200 secondary school STEM teachers in Malaysia had been chosen through a simple random sampling technique. Mean scores are used to assess the knowledge. The findings of the study showed that the teachers are highly knowledgeable about the application of simulation (M=4.15), augmented reality (M=4.11), and autonomous robots (M=4.06) in education. Meanwhile, the teachers have moderate knowledge in the application of cybersecurity (M=3.29), additive manufacturing (M=3.27), and the internet of things (M=3.11) in education. Finally, the teachers recorded a low level of knowledge toward the application of cloud computing (M=2.48), horizontal and vertical integration (M=2.20), as well as big data and analytics (M=2.02) in education. This study gives implications for ensuring the teachers can meet the demands of the present education system and help their learners become more proficient in learning. In conclusion, integrating 4IR technology is an important aspect that needs to be utilized in teachers' teaching practices.

The Council of Europe's (CoE) model on Digital Citizenship Education (DCE) has at its basis the 'Competencies of Democratic Culture' model, which considers being an active and responsible citizen and implies the development of a set of lifelong competencies both online and offline at various levels, as well. Taking the 'Competencies of Democratic Culture' the CoE experts elaborated on the DCE domains, which are the appropriate way to develop democratic culture competences in the digital environment. Georgia, as a member country, signed the agreement on DCE to be applied at the K-12 curriculum level and joined the DCE project of the CoE in July 2020. Thus, as an educational concept, DCE is relatively new to the education system of Georgia. The aim of the study was to describe the current situation concerning DCE in Georgia, namely on awareness of the concept and its foundations, as well as identifying self-reported DCE competences by teachers, students and parents, in the light of the Ribble's and the CoE's models. Data was collected in five schools in 2020. The issue was studied using the quantitative method, an online survey, 1954 respondents were involved in the research. It was demonstrated that most of the respondents had a lack of awareness about information-communication technologies. It can be concluded that communication among school teachers, students and parents about the issues of digital security has not started yet. The correlation between the geographic location of a school and teachers' digital competences is not confirmed.

In recent years, sentiment analysis has gained popularity among researchers in various domains, including the education domain. Sentiment analysis can be applied to review the course comments in Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), which could enable course designers' to easily evaluate their courses. The objective of this study is to explore the influential factors that affect the completion rate of MOOCs and unravel the sentiments of dropout learners by evaluating learners' feedback. In the present study, sentiment analysis was performed using Python programming and NVivo tools on the feedback of the learners enrolled in three MOOCs entitled Introduction to Cyber Security, Digital Forensics and Development of Online Courses for SWAYAM, which was hosted on the SWAYAM platform (www.swayam.gov.in). Two instruments were used for data collection: (1) a structured questionnaire using a 5-point Likert scale was administrated using Google Forms -- the questionnaires have also some additional open-ended questions -- and (2) semi-structured interview schedules with the domain experts. The feedback was collected using Google Forms and a total of 324 responses were received between April 23, 2022 to May 31, 2022. The non-probability sampling method served as the sampling approach in the quantitative phase in this study.

Analysis of programming process data has become popular in computing education research and educational data mining in the last decade. This type of data is quantitative, often of high temporal resolution, and it can be collected non-intrusively while the student is in a natural setting. Many levels of granularity can be obtained, such as submission, compilation, edit, and keystroke events, with keystroke-level logs being the most fine-grained of commonly used dataset types. However, the lack of open datasets, especially at the keystroke level, is notable. There are several reasons for this failing, with the most prominent being the challenges of deidentification that are peculiar to keystroke log data. In this paper, we present the public release of two fully deidentified keystroke datasets that are the first of their kind in terms of both event and metadata richness. We describe our collection technique and properties of the data along with deidentification techniques that, while not fully relieving researchers of significant effort, at least reduce and streamline manual work in hopes that researchers will release similar datasets in the future.

With the growth in digital teaching and learning, there has been a sharp rise in the number of cybersecurity attacks on K-12 school networks. This has demonstrated a need for security technologies and cybersecurity education. This study examined security technologies used, effective security practices, challenges, concerns, and wish list of technology leaders in K-12 settings. Data collected from 23 district websites and from interviews with 12 district technology leaders were analyzed. Top security practices included cloud-based technologies, segregated network/V-LAN, two-factor authentication, limiting access, and use of Clever or Class Link. Top challenges included keeping users informed, lack of buy-in from staff and decision-makers, lack of expertise to implement modern best practices, and cost of resources. Top concerns included possible cyberattacks, leaked student data, and lack of user awareness. Finally, their wish list included technology personnel, access to Clever of Class Link, external system diagnostic checks, professional development for staff, and replacing aging infrastructure. The findings have implications for K-12 administrators, technology leaders, and teachers.

The participation of women in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) workforces is overwhelmingly low as compared to their male counterparts. The low uptake of cybersecurity careers has been documented in the previous studies conducted in the contexts of the West and Eastern worlds. However, most of the past studies mainly covered the Western world leaving more knowledge gaps in the context of Middle Eastern countries such as Saudi Arabia. Thus, to fill the existing knowledge gaps, the current study focused on women in Saudi Arabia. The aim of the study was to investigate the factors behind the underrepresentation of Saudi women in the cybersecurity space by specifically targeting the existing socio-cultural barriers. The study used a qualitative design that entailed reliance on both primary interview data and additional evidence from prior literature to evaluate the barriers faced by Saudi women in cybersecurity. A sample of 15 Saudi women aged 18-30 years with a college education or still in college pursuing a course in IT (Information Technology) or had basic computer literacy skills was purposefully recruited as the most desirable participants. A thematic analysis process was conducted on the primary data to generate theory from the findings, further compared with and verified based on a critical literature review. The themes that were generated from the interviews include lack of autonomy, family responsibilities, female as the weaker gender, and child bearing and caring duties.

Prevalent security threats caused by human errors necessitate security education, training, and awareness (SETA) programs in organizations. Despite strong theoretical foundations in behavioral cybersecurity, field evidence on the effectiveness of SETA programs in mitigating actual threats is scarce. Since memory decay will inevitably occur after absorbing a broad range of cybersecurity knowledge in a single session, the effectiveness of SETA programs in longer terms is unclear. This study investigates whether and how knowledge gained through SETA programs can mitigate human errors in a longitudinal setting. In a baseline experiment, we established that SETA programs reduce phishing susceptibility by 50%, whereas the training intensity does not affect the susceptibility rate. In a follow-up experiment, we found that SETA programs can increase users' cybersecurity knowledge by 12-17%, but the increment wears off within a month. Furthermore, technical-level knowledge decays faster than application-level knowledge. The longer "shelf-life" of application-level knowledge explains why training intensity makes no difference in the baseline experiment. This study reveals a (relatively) more effective component of SETA programs and casts doubts on the overall effectiveness of SETA programs in the long run.

To support the workforce gap of skilled cybersecurity professionals, gamified pedagogical approaches for teaching cybersecurity have exponentially grown over the last two decades. During this same period, e-sports developed into a multi-billion dollar industry and became a staple on college campuses. In this work, we explore the opportunity to integrate e-sports and gamified cybersecurity approaches into the inaugural US Cyber Games Team. During this tenure, we learned many lessons about recruiting, assessing, and training cybersecurity teams. We share our approach, materials, and lessons learned to serve as a model for fielding amateur cybersecurity teams for future competition.

Background/purpose: ChatGPT is an artificial intelligence program released in November 2022, but even now, many studies have expressed excitement or concern about its introduction into academia and education. While there are many questions to be asked, the current study reviews the literature in order to reveal the potential effects of ChatGPT on education as a whole. The potential implications, possibilities, and concerns about the use of ChatGPT in education are disclosed as mentioned in the literature. Materials/methods: The data of the study were collected and then subjected to a systematic review. Research findings were analyzed according to the themes and categories identified. Results: The results of this research were examined under themes according to the positive and negative aspects of ChatGPT. The positive categories and sub-categories of ChatGPT's integration into education were determined, and the relationship between education and artificial intelligence determined. Similarly, the negative category highlighted the potential negative impact of artificial intelligence on educational processes. Conclusion: The reviewed research evaluated and discussed the impact of AI on education and training processes. In conclusion, this review revealed the critical applications of ChatGPT for educational settings and the potential negative impact of its application. The findings established how ChatGPT and its derivatives would create a new paradigm in education as a whole.

After the Cold War period, with the restructuring of the world, globalization, the revolution in information technology and the reconstruction of capitalism have created a new type of society, the "network society". The dependence of countries on information technologies, especially the internet, has increased day by day, and it has become almost impossible for individuals, state institutions and private companies to continue their activities independently of cyberspace, which is described as the fifth operational area. This situation has made it a critical priority to ensure the physical and cyber security of nuclear power plants, which carry the energy burden of the societies and at the same time pose great security risks. In this period, states, state-sponsored and radical terrorist groups that wanted to close the power deficit against military and economically strong states, started to develop asymmetric methods of struggle. In the end new threat vectors such as cyber terrorism have emerged and states that have moved many institutions and services to cyberspace have become more vulnerable to malicious attacks and terrorist activities. In this study, the concept of terrorism and cyber terrorism have been examined and focused on the SCADA systems of nuclear power plants and in the last section cyber security of these systems have been evaluated. This Implementation of this model aims to simplify the process for all organizations in the Nuclear Sector--regardless of their size, cybersecurity risk, or current level of cybersecurity sophistication--to apply the principles and best practices of risk management. Ultimately, the framework and this implementation model are focused on helping individual organizations reduce and better manage their cybersecurity risks, contributing to a more secure and resilient sector overall. The main goal in this work is to improve SCADA system vulnarabilities, show terror groups abilities and present suggestions to safeguard nuclear plants.