University of Twente Student Theses
A serious game on image steganography training for students in higher education.
Simon, J. (2023) A serious game on image steganography training for students in higher education.
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| Abstract: | As the world becomes more digital and we spend more time online, our risk of falling victim to cybercrime increases. Nowadays, a popular technique used by cybercriminals is steganography; due to it being hard to detect. When using steganography, malicious data is hidden in non-secret harmless-seeming media. The type of steganography most commonly used by criminals is image steganography. When an image is opened or downloaded it executes a script locking someone their computer for ransom or other malicious intent. Cybersecurity training is needed to spread awareness about the risk of image steganography attacks. Gamification has been shown to be an effective tool in designing cybersecurity training tools. However, a gamified training tool on the cybersecurity topic of image steganography has not been developed. In this research, we develop a novel serious game. Engagement is shown to have a positive effect on motivated learning and knowledge retention. Therefore we identify gamification techniques that increase engagement with the game, like levels, rewards, and feedback. The training tool is an Angular web application with TypeScript and HTML as its programming languages. To prove the effectiveness of the proposed tool in engaging its user and being a helpful tool in cybersecurity training a remote experimental study is performed. 15 university students from the Netherlands aged 18 to 24 have taken part in this study. Next to using the tool, participants also fill out two surveys; one prior to using the tool about their background knowledge of steganography and cybersecurity in general, and one after using the tool on their experience playing the game. The results are analyzed effectively which indicates that the users enjoyed learning via the game, and felt that they would be motivated by improving some key elements of the game. Future work seeks to extend the tool by adding more engaging questions covering a range of security techniques on steganography. |
| Item Type: | Essay (Bachelor) |
| Faculty: | EEMCS: Electrical Engineering, Mathematics and Computer Science |
| Programme: | Computer Science BSc (56964) |
| Link to this item: | https://purl.utwente.nl/essays/94438 |
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