SaTC-EDU: EAGER: Developing metaverse-native security and privacy curricula for high school students

SaTC-EDU：EAGER：为高中生开发元宇宙原生安全和隐私课程

• 批准号: 2335807
• 负责人: Teomara Rutherford
• 金额: $ 30万
• 依托单位: University of Delaware
• 依托单位国家: 美国
• 项目类别: Standard Grant
• 财政年份: 2023
• 资助国家: 美国
• 起止时间: 2023-09-15 至 2025-08-31
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://www.nsf.gov/awardsearch/showAward?AWD_ID=2335807&HistoricalAwards=false
• 关键词: SaTC; EDU; EAGER; Developing; metaverse

The metaverse refers to a computer-generated virtual space where users can interact with one another in real-time. It uses different technologies and platforms, allowing for widespread integration into various aspects of our lives. However, it also brings up a range of security and privacy threats. Although the metaverse is envisioned as the evolution of social media platforms, the metaverse blurs the boundaries between physical and virtual identities and incorporates virtual economies, creating unique security challenges like virtual crimes, theft, and fraudulent transactions. Teenagers, due to their vulnerable developmental stage, lack of experience, and technological fluency, are at risk for online scams, cyberbullying, and identity theft within the metaverse. The project team will develop metaverse-native security and privacy curricula. The developed curricula will assume a crucial role, akin to defensive driving courses, in preparation for entering the metaverse. Although participating may not eliminate all potential "accidents," it will significantly reduce them and minimize the impact on teenagers’ safety and privacy. Moreover, by involving students from communities currently underrepresented in cybersecurity in the design and development of the metaverse-native security and privacy curricula, we can foster their interest in the field of cybersecurity and ensure that the curricula are meaningful to their peers. This collaborative approach contributes to strengthening the national cybersecurity workforce pipeline. Additionally, the research instruments, assessment tools, and outcomes of this work will be disseminated through workshops, publications, presentations, and a web portal. By sharing knowledge and insights, we can promote awareness and empower individuals to navigate the metaverse safely and securely. The project has two interconnected goals: to educate teenagers about the unique security and privacy challenges in the metaverse and to inspire them to pursue cybersecurity-related majors in college and subsequent careers in the field. To accomplish these objectives, the project team will collaborate with high school students to identify metaverse-specific security and privacy threat scenarios. Through their participation, we will design and develop metaverse-native security and privacy curricula. These curricula will be piloted with their high school cohort to evaluate their effectiveness and refine their content. The project will make significant contributions to cybersecurity education and workforce development, yielding several key outcomes. First, the team will create a set of prototyped metaverse cybersecurity scenarios designed to engage and motivate high school students. Second, the team will develop and document principles for iterative co-development with youth. Lastly, the team will produce materials that enable the monitoring and assessment of student learning and interest in cybersecurity. The project will conduct ongoing research and comprehensive formative and summative evaluations to gain insights and lessons learned, further advancing cybersecurity education in high schools. This project is supported by the Secure and Trustworthy Cyberspace (SaTC) program, which funds proposals that address cybersecurity and privacy, and in this case specifically cybersecurity education. The SaTC program aligns with the Federal Cybersecurity Research and Development Strategic Plan and the National Privacy Research Strategy to protect and preserve the growing social and economic benefits of cyber systems while ensuring security and privacy.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.

虚拟世界是指计算机生成的虚拟空间，用户可以在其中进行实时交互，可以广泛融入我们生活的各个方面。不过，它也带来了一系列的安全性。尽管虚拟世界被设想为社交媒体平台的演变，但虚拟世界模糊了物理身份和虚拟身份之间的界限，并融合了虚拟经济，从而带来了独特的安全挑战，例如虚拟犯罪、盗窃和欺诈交易。他们处于脆弱的发展阶段，缺乏经验和技术熟练程度面临虚拟世界中的在线诈骗、网络欺凌和身份盗窃的风险。项目团队将开发虚拟世界本地安全和隐私课程，所开发的课程将发挥至关重要的作用，类似于防御性驾驶课程。尽管参与可能无法消除所有潜在的“事故”，但通过让来自目前网络安全领域代表性不足的社区的学生参与进来，将大大减少事故的发生并最大限度地减少对青少年安全和隐私的影响。通过设计和开发元宇宙原生安全和隐私课程，我们可以培养他们对网络安全领域的兴趣，并确保课程对其同行有意义，这种协作方法有助于加强国家网络安全劳动力研究工具。评估工具和这项工作的成果将通过研讨会、出版物、演示文稿和门户网站进行传播。通过分享知识和见解，我们可以提高人们的认识并增强个人安全可靠地驾驭虚拟世界的能力。该项目有两个相互关联的部分。目标：教育青少年了解虚拟世界中独特的安全和隐私挑战，并激励他们在大学攻读网络安全相关专业以及随后在该领域的职业生涯。为了实现这些目标，项目团队将与高中生合作确定。通过他们的参与，我们将设计和开发元宇宙本地安全和隐私课程，这些课程将在他们的高中群体中进行试点，以评估其有效性并完善其内容。对网络安全教育的贡献和首先，该团队将创建一套原型元宇宙网络安全，旨在吸引和激励高中生。其次，该团队将制定并记录与年轻人迭代共同开发的原则。团队将制作能够监控和评估学生对网络安全的学习和兴趣的材料，该项目将进行持续的研究以及全面的形成性和总结性评估，以获得见解和经验教训，进一步推进高中的网络安全教育。安全可信的网络空间(SaTC) 计划，该计划资助解决网络安全和隐私问题的提案，在本例中，特别是网络安全教育。SaTC 计划与联邦网络安全研究与发展战略计划和国家隐私研究战略相一致，以保护和维护不断增长的社会和经济。该奖项反映了 NSF 的法定使命，并被认为值得支持，确保通过使用基金会的智力优点和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估。