The Security Awareness course, offered through Brightspace, is a complete foundational training program that covers a wide array of cyber security topics. This includes social engineering, information security, incident reporting and recovery, device protection, and internet safety. The course content is designed to empower the Carleton community by encouraging students, staff and faculty to be more cyber secure.
Instead of presenting information in long blocks of texts or videos, this course delivers its content through multiple kinds of engaging avenues. Below are some ways that make the Security Awareness course exciting, written by two co-op students currently working in Information Technology Services.
Hotspots
Hotspots allow you to be more directly involved with your own learning. These interactive buttons are added to slides, and reveal hidden information when clicked. The Security Awareness course uses hotspots throughout the various modules.
For instance, when discussing phishing emails, the course presents an example and uses it to dissect the common features of a phishing message. You can click on the hotspots scattered around the slide to learn more about these red flags.
Audio
The Security Awareness course slides are accompanied by synced audio. This is particularly beneficial if you are an auditory learner rather than a visual learner. The voiceover has natural articulation and appropriate pacing to ensure that you can understand the information clearly.
If you find the voiceover distracting or if you just need a break, you can either mute or pause the audio in the upper right tab of the course slide.
Animated Videos
Animated videos are featured throughout the Security Awareness course; they present a scenario related to the module topic and prompt you to consider the best course of action for the given situation. Not only are these short videos fun to watch, they demonstrate key messages in a digestible way.
For example, in one of the animated videos, someone is using a public Wi-Fi connection to send an email containing confidential documents — this is dangerous because cybercriminals can capture information shared over an unsecured network.
Knowledge Checks
There are short knowledge checks in each module of the Security Awareness course; these assess your understanding of the content that was covered. But don’t worry! There are no penalties for answering a question incorrectly and you can retake the knowledge check as many times as you want. In fact, there will be a pop-up text box that expands on why your answer was right or wrong.
Knowledge checks are a great way to keep track of your learning progress. If you’d like to improve your score on any given module, you can revisit it to review the content again.
Mini-Games
The Security Awareness course offers a variety of mini-games related to the various module topics. These games are an engaging alternative to long texts and videos — not only is learning about cybersecurity empowering, it is also fun!
For example, in the spear phishing module, there is a game that allows you to roleplay as a cybercriminal. You get to plan out a spear phishing attack and make decisions in order to execute it successfully. The game demonstrates the extent to which an actual cybercriminal will go through in order to harvest your personal data. By being more aware of the methodologies used in a spear phishing attack, you can prevent yourself from falling victim to it.
Take Action
Hotspots, audio, animated videos, knowledge checks, and mini-games are just a few of the ways that make our Security Awareness course exciting. Since October is Cyber Security Awareness Month, there is no better time than now to enrol in the course.
If you complete at least one module of the Security Awareness course before October 29, 2022, you can be entered for a chance to win a pair of Airpods or Ravens merch. Click the button below for more details on the giveaway: