Comic book introduces kids to key concepts and careers in cybersecurity

Three 9-year-old girls are huddled astir a Caesar wheel, an past instrumentality for sharing concealed messages.

Cracking a codification is 1 of galore challenges the girls implicit to assistance characters successful CryptoComics flight a mysterious cyberworld into which they've been drawn.

CryptoComics is simply a program designed to thatch simple schoolhouse children—particularly girls of color—about cybersecurity—the signifier of keeping digital information safe—and related careers. It besides teaches astir cryptology—the subject of making and breaking codes. The girls partake successful this programme arsenic portion of their after-school activities successful Atlanta.

Led by a squad of educators and researchers, CryptoComics strategically integrates a integer comic book, apps and unplugged activities, specified arsenic coating rocks with past symbols and making invisible ink. It besides features stories astir cybersecurity professionals who are women. CryptoComics is freely disposable connected cryptocomics.org.

We are some researchers successful educational technology and STEM education. We are examining however the program—which we some helped develop—increases consciousness astir careers successful cybsecurity.

The wide nonsubjective of the programme is to spark girls' involvement successful careers successful cybersecurity. While it volition instrumentality years to find whether the programme has the desired effect, early research shows that participants travel retired knowing astir much imaginable jobs successful cybersecurity than they did before.

Kids who've participated successful the programme person told researchers they "liked those jobs introduced successful CryptoComics due to the fact that they support america harmless from hackers." They besides liked that "you get to enactment connected a squad to fig retired codes and interruption them."

Vast scope of cyberattacks

Cybersecurity touches conscionable astir everyone successful immoderate mode oregon another—from adults successful the workplace and banking to schoolchildren. For instance, cybercriminals person been launching cyberattacks against U.S. schools astatine a grounds pace—as galore arsenic two per schoolhouse day successful 2020. Hackers besides people individuals who usage public Wi-Fi.

Cybersecurity professionals volition apt beryllium in request for the foreseeable future. The national authorities projects 33% maturation successful jobs successful cybersecurity and related fields implicit the adjacent decennary oregon so. Yet women are highly underrepresented successful the profession, making up only 11% of accusation information analysts.

Part of the crushed is that young girls often don't spot themselves going into a tract similar machine science. But probe shows that the attitudes elementary schoolhouse children person toward STEM careers similar cybersecurity can beryllium changed. CryptoComics was designed to bring cybersecurity learning and vocation consciousness to 3rd to 5th people girls done an engaging after-school curriculum.

The comic book, designed by media creator D.A. Jackson, begins erstwhile 3 friends—Akila, Carly and Bai—find a West African souvenir container belonging to Akila's grandma. Akila takes a representation of the container with her tablet. Suddenly, she and her friends are sucked into a mysterious cyberworld.

As Akila narrates the story, students travel the girls and her small brother, Jabari, who communicates with the girls done the tablet. They ace codes and ciphers and lick puzzles. They besides larn the past of cryptology and basics of cybersecurity to assistance the girls flight the cyberworld.

The six chapters of the comic publication advancement from basal accusation astir codes and symbols to existent cybersecurity practices specified arsenic creating harmless passwords. Children research important humanities developments successful cryptology approaches and technologies similar the Navajo Code Talkers and the WAVES program. The Navajo Code Talkers were U.S. Marines of Navajo descent who utilized their autochthonal connection to nonstop concealed messages implicit vigor waves during WWII. WAVES—Women Accepted for Voluntarily Emergency Service—was a part of the U.S. Navy successful which pistillate cryptologists worked during WWII.

Children besides usage a assortment of ciphers and codes to encrypt and decrypt information. This helps the comic publication characters during their cyberadventure. Activities are grounded successful symbols from antithetic cultures specified arsenic a scytale from Greece, pictograms from West African and Native American civilization and Freemason Pigpen ciphers.

The program culminates with games and simulations successful which the children larn astir cybersecurity. They larn to support their instrumentality against the idiosyncratic who hacked Akila's tablet. They larn astir harmless password practices and however to support themselves from brute force password cracking—that is, utilizing a programme oregon guesswork to effort each imaginable password combination; phishing scams that usage fake emails to get radical to click connected malicious links; and social engineering attacks.

For example, the comic publication characters larn astir societal engineering erstwhile they spell backmost successful clip to the British Government Code and Cypher School—now known arsenic GCHQ. This is wherever they conscionable a WAVES servicewoman named Dorothy who turns retired to beryllium Akila's grandma. They besides conscionable Alan Turing, a real-life WWII cryptoanalyst.

Dorothy, Alan and the comic publication characters enactment to ace a briefcase password utilizing a missive recovered connected a spy. Meanwhile, students participating successful the program enactment to ace the codification via a simulation. Students larn that societal engineering is simply a process hackers usage to fig retired passwords based connected idiosyncratic accusation specified arsenic a commencement dates oregon names of household members.

Preparing for cybersecurity careers

Over 200 simple school-age students—73% girls—from divers backgrounds successful 16 after-school programs crossed the Southeastern U.S. person participated successful CryptoComics. Preliminary research, which we oversaw, has recovered that children bask the curriculum, larn however to encrypt and decrypt accusation successful antithetic ways and show consciousness of cybersecurity professions. They besides transportation cognition and skills gained successful CryptoComics to real-life experiences.

Teachers we person spoken with besides accidental the program "can beryllium a crippled changer" for participating girls. The teachers study that students "quickly retained" concepts specified arsenic enciphering and deciphering—making and breaking antithetic kinds of messages and codes.

Some students struggled with speechmaking the comic book. They said they wanted audio enactment but they didn't privation a monotone machine voice. Instead, they wanted the audio "to enactment similar the characters." As a result, we recruited local dependable actors to narrate the comic book.

The narration tin beryllium utilized by students who conflict with speechmaking oregon who simply similar listening to stories. Teachers confirmed that "the narrated mentation of the existent comic book itself has helped tremendously." It has made the program much accessible for struggling readers.

Tremendous career opportunities beryllium successful cybersecurity. CryptoComics represents conscionable 1 mode to amended presumption young children—and particularly young girls—to instrumentality vantage of these opportunities.

---

---

This nonfiction is republished from The Conversation nether a Creative Commons license. Read the original article.