2022 EDSIG Proceedings: Abstract Presentation
Electronic Cyber Badge: An Experiential Teaching Platform for Cybersecurity Concepts
Michael Ham
Dakota State University
Kyle Cronin
Dakota State University
Tom Halverson
Dakota State University
Cybersecurity is highly impactful in our technology-infused lives. As the United States grapples with a shortage of qualified cybersecurity professionals capable of securing the nation’s interests, stakeholders support numerous initiatives to lessen the deficiency. Some of these efforts aim to produce a pipeline of professionals by introducing cybersecurity into academic curricula and providing learning opportunities through outreach and camps.
Incorporating cybersecurity concepts into curricula is a trend seen across several levels of education from K-12 to post-secondary education. However, it is not met without challenges that can inhibit course materials' availability, quality, efficacy, and ease of adoption. Course materials may have prohibitive costs, lack foundational concepts, or don’t promote continued learning. Such impedances negatively impact student interest and learning outcomes, hindering progress towards the larger goal of shrinking the cybersecurity workforce shortage.
Researchers at our designed an electronic badge shown in Figure 1 as an experiential teaching tool to overcome barriers in introducing a cybersecurity curriculum. The badge was created with multiple goals:
• Aid in teaching cybersecurity concepts such as confidentiality, integrity, availability, defense in depth, and thinking like an adversary.
• Gamify lessons to promote student interaction and excitement about cybersecurity.
• Have a modular design for continued learning.
• Applicability for a wide range of learners.
Figure 1: Electronic cyber badge fully assembled.
The team created a sample exercise to pilot the badge. Students begin the activity by soldering badge components to a PCB to build a functioning badge, an excellent opportunity to teach electrical engineering concepts. The circuitry of the badge centers around a small ATTiny84 microcontroller programmed to send and receive simplex messages over infrared (IR), where networking topics are introduced, including confidentiality, integrity, and availability. Each badge has a unique identifier, and students are instructed to connect with as many other badges as possible; the highest score wins. The badges have a multicolor LED to indicate their score and display messages. Unknown to the students, approximately 5% of the microchips are infected with a virus that spreads from badge to badge; the virus causes the badge to display a message in Morse code. Students are informed about the virus after realizing that some badges are behaving anomalously. They are tasked with disinfecting the network of badges by solving embedded cryptographic puzzles or reprogramming the microchip, depending on their skill level; this involves thinking like an adversary and may include low-level programming. Upon completing the activity, the microchip and components can be repurposed for use in other projects that promote continued learning.
GenCyber is a program funded by the National Science Foundation and the National Security Agency that facilitates cybersecurity camps for students and teachers in K-12. The university hosted 50 K-12 teachers and 180 rising high school students in two separate residential camps during the 2022 summer. Researchers leveraged the badges across several teaching areas during the camps and observed formative assessment results. Overall, students indicated that the badges were a valuable tool in helping them achieve learning outcomes, work with peers, and positively impacted their learning progress.
Thursday at 4:25 pm