- Title
- Educating users about information security by means of game play
- Creator
- Monk, Thomas Philippus
- Subject
- Computer security
- Subject
- Educational games -- Design
- Subject
- Computer networks -- Security measures
- Date Issued
- 2011
- Date
- 2011
- Type
- Thesis
- Type
- Masters
- Type
- MTech
- Identifier
- vital:9748
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/10948/1493
- Identifier
- Computer security
- Identifier
- Educational games -- Design
- Identifier
- Computer networks -- Security measures
- Description
- Information is necessary for any business to function. However, if one does not manage one’s information assets properly then one’s business is likely to be at risk. By implementing Information Security controls, procedures, and/or safeguards one can secure information assets against risks. The risks of an organisation can be mitigated if employees implement safety measures. However, employees are often unable to work securely due to a lack of knowledge. This dissertation evaluates the premise that a computer game could be used to educate employees about Information Security. A game was developed with the aim of educating employees in this regard. If people were motivated to play the game, without external motivation from an organisation, then people would also, indirectly, be motivated to learn about Information Security. Therefore, a secondary aim of this game was to be self-motivating. An experiment was conducted in order to test whether or not these aims were met. The experiment was conducted on a play test group and a control group. The play test group played the game before completing a questionnaire that tested the information security knowledge of participants, while the control group simply completed the questionnaire. The two groups’ answers were compared in order to obtain results. This dissertation discusses the research design of the experiment and also provides an analysis of the results. The game design will be discussed which provides guidelines for future game designers to follow. The experiment indicated that the game is motivational, but perhaps not educational enough. However, the results suggest that a computer game can still be used to teach users about Information Security. Factors that involved consequence and repetition contributed towards the educational value of the game, whilst competitiveness and rewards contributed to the motivational aspect of the game.
- Format
- xii, 181 leaves
- Format
- Publisher
- Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University
- Publisher
- Faculty of Engineering, the Built Environment and Information Technology
- Language
- English
- Rights
- Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University
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