Security exploits can include cyber threats such as computer programs that can disturb the normal behavior of computer systems (viruses), unsolicited e-mail (spam), malicious software (malware), monitoring software (spyware), attempting to make computer resources unavailable to their intended users (Distributed Denial-of-Service or DDoS attack), the social engineering, and online identity theft (phishing). One such cyber threat, which is particularly dangerous to computer users is phishing. Phishing is well known as online identity theft, which targets to steal victims' sensitive information such as username, password and online banking details. This paper focuses on designing an innovative and gamified approach to educate individuals about phishing attacks. The study asks how one can integrate self-efficacy, which has a co-relation with the user's knowledge, into an anti-phishing educational game to thwart phishing attacks? One of the main reasons would appear to be a lack of user knowledge to prevent from phishing attacks. Therefore, this research investigates the elements that influence (in this case, either conceptual or procedural knowledge or their interaction effect) and then integrate them into an anti-phishing educational game to enhance people's phishing prevention behaviour through their motivation.
Designs for CSCL (Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning) applications usually presume a desktop or laptop computer. Yet future classrooms are likely to be organized around Wireless Internet Learning Devices (WILD) that resemble graphing calculators, Palm, or Pocket-PC handhelds, connected by short-range wireless networking. WILD learning will have physical affordances that are different from today’s computer lab, and different from classrooms with 5 students per computer. These differing affordances may lead to learning activities that deviate significantly from today’s images of K-12 CSCL activities. Drawing upon research across a range of recent handheld projects, we suggest application-level affordances around which WILD-based CSCL has begun to organize: (a) augmenting physical space, (b) leveraging topological space, (c) aggregating coherently across all students, (d) conducting the class, and (e) act becomes artifact. We speculate on how CSCL research may consequently evolve towards a focus on kinds of systemic coupling in an augmented activity space.  Game based education is becoming more and more popular. This is because game based education provides an opportunity for learning in a natural environment. Phishing is an online identity theft, which attempts to steal sensitive information such as username, password, and online banking details from its victims. To prevent this, phishing awareness needs to be considered. This research aims to develop a game design framework, which enhances user avoidance behaviour through motivation to protect users from phishing attacks. In order to do this, a theoretical model derived from Technology Thread Avoidance Theory (TTAT) was developed and used in the game design framework (Liang & Xue, 2010). A survey study was undertaken with 150 regular computer users to elicit feedback through a questionnaire. The study findings revealed that perceived threat, safeguard effectiveness, safeguard cost, self-efficacy, perceived severity, and perceived susceptibility elements should be addressed in the game design framework for computer users to avoid phishing attacks. Furthermore, we argue that this game design framework can be used not only for preventing phishing attacks but also for preventing other malicious IT attacks such as viruses, malware, botnets and spyware. Phishing is an online identity theft that aims to steal sensitive information such as username, password and online banking details from its victims. Phishing education needs to be considered as a means to combat this threat. This paper reports on a design and development of a mobile game prototype as an educational tool helping computer users to protect themselves against phishing attacks. The elements of a game design framework for avoiding phishing attacks were used to address the game design issues. Our mobile game design aimed to enhance the users' avoidance behaviour through motivation to protect themselves against phishing threats. A think-aloud study was conducted, along with a pre- and post-test, to assess the game design framework though the developed mobile game prototype. The study results showed a significant improvement of participants' phishing avoidance behaviour in their post-test assessment. Furthermore, the study findings suggest that participants' threat perception, safeguard effectiveness, self-efficacy, perceived severity and perceived susceptibility elements positively impact threat avoidance behaviour, whereas safeguard cost had a negative impact on it. We developed a mobile game prototype to thwart phishing attacks.Investigated what key elements should be addressed in the game.The elements derived from a game design framework were incorporated.Empirically investigated users' phishing threat avoidance behaviour.  In this paper we describe the design and evaluation of Anti-Phishing Phil, an online game that teaches users good habits to help them avoid phishing attacks. We used learning science principles to design and iteratively refine the game. We evaluated the game through a user study: participants were tested on their ability to identify fraudulent web sites before and after spending 15 minutes engaged in one of three anti-phishing training activities (playing the game, reading an anti-phishing tutorial we created based on the game, or reading existing online training materials). We found that the participants who played the game were better able to identify fraudulent web sites compared to the participants in other conditions. We attribute these effects to both the content of the training messages presented in the game as well as the presentation of these materials in an interactive game format. Our results confirm that games can be an effective way of educating people about phishing and other security attacks. According to many dental professionals, the decay process resulting from the accumulation of sugar on teeth is a very difficult concept for young children to learn. Playing the dental hygiene game with Thinking Tags not only brings context into the classroom, but also allows children to work with digital manipulatives that provide rich personal experiences and instant feedback. Instead of watching a demonstration of the accumulation of sugars on a computer screen, or being told about dental health, this simulation allows pre-school children to experience improving or decaying dental health without any real adverse health effects. Small, wearable, microprocessor-driven Tags were brought into the kindergarten classroom to simulate the decay process, providing information about sugars in foods and creating a discussion about teeth. Preliminary analyses suggest that this program was effective and enthusiastically received by this age group. Good computer and video games like System Shock 2, Deus Ex, Pikmin, Rise of Nations, Neverwinter Nights, and Xenosaga: Episode 1 are learning machines. They get themselves learned and learned well, so that they get played long and hard by a great many people. This is how they and their designers survive and perpetuate themselves. If a game cannot be learned and even mastered at a certain level, it won't get played by enough people, and the company that makes it will go broke. Good learning in games is a capitalist-driven Darwinian process of selection of the fittest. Of course, game designers could have solved their learning problems by making games shorter and easier, by dumbing them down, so to speak. But most gamers don't want short and easy games. Thus, designers face and largely solve an intriguing educational dilemma, one also faced by schools and workplaces: how to get people, often young people, to learn and master something that is long and challenging--and enjoy it, to boot. Phishing is an online identity theft, which aims to steal confidential information such as username, password and online banking details from its victims. To prevent this, anti-phishing education needs to be considered. Therefore, the research reported in this paper examines whether conceptual knowledge or procedural knowledge has a positive effect on computer users' self-efficacy to thwart phishing threats. In order to accomplish this, a theoretical model based on Liang and Xue's (2010) Technology Threat Avoidance Theory (TTAT) has been proposed and evaluated. Data was collected from 161 regular computer users to elicit their feedback through an online questionnaire. The study findings revealed that the interaction effect of conceptual and procedural knowledge positively impacts on computer users' self-efficacy, which enhances their phishing threat avoidance behaviour. It can therefore be argued that well-designed end-user security education contributes to thwart phishing threats.