A Cyber- Security Portal for Southern Africa Dr. Johan van Niekerk & Prof. Rossouw von Solms

Agenda  Background  Why a Portal?  Overview Information security governance toolbox E-learning portal Awareness Game E-learning for children Resource Portal  Future work

Background  The Internet Brought many advantages Used both at home and in organizations Not only used by the rich or educated  Internet Usage in South Africa 8.6% of entire population (World Bank, 2010) 83% of low-income urban black youths (Kreutzer, 2009) All sectors of the population -Young/old, poor/rich, educated/uneducated, rural/urban Many platforms -PC, Mobile phones, Mxit, etc

Background  Internet also brought many RISKS  Organizations address these risks through “Information Security” Typically controls are selected from a standard like ISO/IEC Three categories of controls -Physical -Technical -Operation Physical & Technical Controls depend on Operational controls Thus all controls depend on humans

Background  Organizations Information Security Awareness, Training & Education Smaller organizations might lack resources  Home Users Currently no Cyber Security Education  Society as a whole needs to develop a Cyber Security culture Children are usually taught about physical security or financial security by their parents Current parents are possibly even less equipped than their children to be secure online Last year alone 4400 cases of identity theft were reported to the SAFPS (More than R200 million in fraud)

Why a Portal? There is a need for Cyber-Security education for all Southern Africans A “one size fits all” approach won’t work for everyone

A Cyber Security Portal  We are developing a Cyber Security Portal (Institute for ICT Advancement at the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University)  This portal consists of several sub-projects A web-based information security governance toolbox A pedagogically sound e-learning portal for basic information security education A web-based game to raise awareness about information security in organizations An e-learning portal catering for the specific needs of children and teenagers An information security resource portal

Information security governance toolbox  Information security governance Expensive Requires staff & other resources  An information security policy requires Expertise to create Compliance  Smaller organizations may lack resources and/or knowledge

Information security governance toolbox  We’re creating a Web-based Toolset Automatic policy generation Compliance measurement Digital “dashboard” Low Cost  Based on a framework & existing desktop toolset developed over several years Redevelopment of PC Based “consulting tool” to “self service” web based tool

A pedagogically sound e-learning portal  Current information security education lacks pedagogical basis (Puhakainen, 2006)  No current program targets home users Social networking Internet banking Etc  Moodle 2.0 Portal Free access to basic education Brain compatible learning principles Activities planned according to learning taxonomies

A web-based awareness game  Information Security often not seen as a core business component  Employees lack motivation to learn about security  Address motivational issues by making security awareness “fun”  Game design based on sound educational gaming research Employees compete in virtual “race” over 2 weeks Daily clues Use of Google Maps and other tools to simulate race Leaderships boards & Daily + Weekly prizes  Framework to be tested towards end of 2011 Can be customized for other organizations

E-learning portal for children  Children have specific Cyber Security needs Social Networking Mxit, etc  Parents lack knowledge  Portal will provide Games Age relevant Cyber Security material  For Parents Information brochures Parental control tools

Information security resource portal  Research papers  Information Security Standards  Informational brochures  Contact information for research collaboration  Links to “other” cyber security research projects

Aims of the portal The aim of this portal is to be a single point of access for all free, or low-cost, cyber & information security related resources in Southern Africa

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