Applied Holistic Approach For Security Awareness And Training - Computer Games As Means To Increase Users' Information And Communication Security Awareness

In order to decrease Information and Communication Technology (ICT) security threats caused by human errors an increased concentration on education and learning is necessary. Because of the large amount of new users, with different kind of learning capabilities, the traditional teaching methods are not sufficient. Alternative forms of education are needed. This article discusses why ICT security functionalities are important to understand and how nonlinear interactive computer games can support the holistic understanding of ICT from a security perspective. Through visualizing common security functionalities a practical attempt to make learners understand the basic concepts of Public Key Infrastructure (PKI) is described, why it is needed and how these concepts can be applied in the daily use of ICT. The findings from several conducted experiments investigating the effect learning through a single-user computer game has on the acquired knowledge will also be presented and discussed. The findings show that a computer game can be an efficient instrument when learning to understand ICT security.