Cyber-Hero: A Gamification framework for Cyber Security Awareness for High Schools Students

People are considered the weakest point in the information systems which causes most of the cyber-attacks successful. The increasing numbers of cyber-attacks indicate that the traditional methodologies of training and awareness are still insufficient to build the necessary cybersecurity skills and capabilities. Gamification represents a promising methodology to change the behavior of people in the early stages. The objective of this research is not only to verify the effectiveness of gamification but also to provide a constructive application and to propose a framework that helps eventually and iteratively in improving the cyber-security skills and capabilities for high school students in early stages. In this research, we propose a novel framework for information security awareness and training programs, known as Cyber-Hero, that will help fight one of the most popular weaknesses in cybersecurity which is human error. The framework helps in transferring the learning of a narrative set of instructions to be acquired in a serious game, in which students in schools can engage with at an early stage. Such an engagement will educate students on how to create a strong password to protect themselves from cyber-attacks. The preliminary results show incremental progress in the skills and capabilities of cybersecurity for the students using the proposed framework.