Enhancing Cybersecurity Awareness and Education

As the digitization of our life continuously progresses, the associated risks and their impacts on each individual user of digital applications and internet services also continue to increase. Cybercriminals specifically exploit the carelessness or ignorance of users to profit from it. A basic understanding of cybersecurity should therefore be a fundamental requirement for all people. Addressing these challenges, the paper presents a comprehensive, novel approach to enhance cybersecurity awareness and training for workforce and the general public. Based on the globally successful but outdated ICDL Cyber Security syllabus, a new syllabus was derived, comprising nine core modules that cover essential cybersecurity topics. Along these key topics, an e-Learning course was developed through iterative design and implementation. Qualitative and quantitative evaluations were conducted, comprising pre-, post- and self-assessment-tests with 91 participants (University students, employees of a small organisation) as well as expert reviews. Additionally, upcoming use cases for the developed course are outlined, focusing on applications in the public sector and the broader workforce. The work might contribute to a significant advancement in cybersecurity online training and lays the groundwork for future research and innovation in the field of cybersecurity education.