18. jouluk. 20244 min käytetty lukemiseen

Cyber Citizen creates a safer future in Europe

There is a practical need to foster a security culture within the human-centered digital environment, which led to the creation of the Cyber Citizen Initiative. The project's aim is to develop a common, shared model for learning essential cybersecurity skills across the European Union. This article introduces the project, highlights the key outcomes, and presents the team behind it all.

The Cyber Citizen Initiative, launched in 2022, has created a digital learning portal, featuring a variety of e-learning methods and regularly updated content tailored to different target groups. This project is carried out by a Finnish team, executed by Aalto University, and commissioned by the Finnish Ministry of Transport and Communication.

Everyone should have some cybersecurity skills

Different age groups exhibit varying levels of digital competence, ranging from novices to experts and the challenge lies in addressing the needs of these diverse target groups.

Currently, member states of the European Union are building a common cybersecurity culture. Creating and strengthening this culture takes time, which is why determined efforts are crucial. Cybersecurity skills are needed to protect data and mitigate online threats, as digital security is increasingly essential in both personal and professional lives. With cyber threats evolving constantly, having these skills helps individuals and organizations stay safer and more resilient in a digital world.

Key outcomes utilize Gamification of learning

The Gamification of learning is an educational approach that aims to motivate people to learn by involving game design and game elements into learning environments.

For enhancing the learning of cybersecurity skills there are two main outcomes in the Cyber Citizen Initiative – Cyber City Tycoon mobile game and SecPort.

In the Cyber City Tycoon mobile game, you get to step in the shoes of a cybercriminal and commit cybercrimes. With the diamonds earned from these crimes, you can buy minions and expand your empire. The game uses mechanics familiar from commercial mobile games such as forced ads. However, instead of regular advertisements, you will be required to watch useful and educational cyber security tips. The game is completely free and currently available in Finnish and English. Support for all other languages spoken in the EU will be added later.

As for SecPort, it is a portal designed to stay secure while using digital services and devices in your everyday life. The portal offers a broad selection of tools, resources, and awareness materials in all 24 EU languages to support both personal and professional use. Initially, it emphasizes some fundamental cybersecurity skills, with plans to add more advanced content over time. The aim is to provide a wide range of materials to meet various needs, suitable for different age groups and diverse learner types.

Preparation for the project involved research on the current teaching methods and materials of essential cybersecurity skills education and training in European Union member states, as well as the national requirements of member states.

The research is ongoing. Aalto University plans to study the effectiveness of the mobile game, released in October, in terms of learning by using test groups for the game. This will allow them to observe how playing the game has impacted the development of cyber skills.

The people behind Cyber Citizen

The Cyber Citizen initiative team consists of 17 people. The Project Manager Marianne Lindroth provides more details about the team and working on this project:

How was the team assembled?

"Jarno Limnéll, who led the project at its inception, assembled a Cyber Citizen team of professionals with a wide range of backgrounds and skills interested in developing basic cybersecurity skills."

What are the professional backgrounds of the team members?

"The team includes cybersecurity professionals, cyber awareness professionals, education professionals, social security professionals, gamification professionals, storytelling professionals, research professionals and communication professionals."

What skills (outside of cybersecurity) are needed for a project like this?

"As you can see from the team structure, you need to understand not only the technology, but also the people. The best results are achieved when a wide range of experts from different disciplines are involved. It was also important to involve professionals from all over Europe and to bring together academia, business, the public sector and non-governmental organizations."

What challenges have you experienced, and how have you overcome them?

"Initially, basic cybersecurity skills were not so much identified, or were thought to be narrowly related to technology. We had to do a lot of legwork to find the right actors across Europe and build a common understanding of what we were doing."

What has been the most rewarding aspect of this project?

"Broad collaboration and genuine interest from different stakeholders to develop basic cybersecurity skills. Great encounters and discussions at various events across Europe and of course the fact that our work has also been noticed when we were awarded with the Information Security Achievement of the Year 2024."