Training and Embedding Cybersecurity Guardians in Older Communities.

Abstract

Older adults can struggle to access relevant community expertise when faced with new situations. One such situation is the number of cyberattacks they may face when interacting online. This paper reports on an initiative which recruited, trained, and supported older adults to become community cybersecurity educators (CyberGuardians), tasked with promoting cybersecurity best practice within their communities to prevent older adults falling victim to opportunistic cyberattacks. This initiative utilised an embedded peer-to-peer information dissemination strategy, rather than expert-to-citizen, facilitating the inclusion of individuals who would ordinarily be unlikely to seek cybersecurity information and thus may be vulnerable to cyberattacks. We report on ways the CyberGuardians used informal methods to create more aware communities, served as role models for behaviour change and indirectly improved their personal wellbeing. We discuss considerations for supporting CyberGuardians, including implications for sustainability and for replicating this model in other digital contexts, e.g., recognising misinformation or improving mental health.CCS CONCEPTS •Security and privacy~Human and societal aspects of security and privacy~Social aspects of security and privacy •Social and professional topics~User characteristics~Age~Seniors •Human-centered computing~Human computer interaction (HCI)~HCI design and evaluation methods~Field studies

Understanding Young People's Experiences of Cybersecurity

“…[36]). Finally, young people found formal peer support valuable in helping the content be more relatable, in line with similar community initiatives [28]. More work is needed in order to understand the best methods for recruiting and training these pupils, but to also understand the social dynamics at play in a school environment that may promote or prevent the sharing amongst peers.…”

“…This condition is not unprecedented in the education literature: Social affinity between children has been found to be important for motivating children to learn in collaborative settings, and this includes friendship between partners [36]. From a security perspective, we have seen how adults are able to form their own support groups when learning new cybersecurity topics [28], but more work is needed to understand these types of dynamics with a younger population in this context.…”

“…In fact, recent work has explored peer-to-peer cybersecurity in older adult communities with positive findings [28], so rolling this within schools may be a step in the right direction.…”

An Adaptive Cybersecurity Training Framework for the Education of Social Media Users at Work

“…They found out that merging different approaches produces better outcomes than using only one. Thus, we aim to offer as many training options as possible, although we are aware of the complexities and demands of offering a variety of delivery methods in real-world scenarios [46].…”

Human-driven and human-centred cybersecurity: policy-making implications

“…There are a number of approaches that could actually be used to achieve this, starting from a more classical “expert to learner” approach to a more innovative and modern ones, such as peer-to-peer instruction. As the authors of Nicholson et al (2021) have remarked, using varied approaches when planning educational and dissemination activities facilitates the inclusion of a higher number of individuals. As such, the author of this paper has contributed to creating a series of modular training courses, raising the awareness of various aspects of cybersecurity.…”