'Casual Games' to School Airmen on Cyber Threats

I think the cyber community's use of simulations for training is at its infancy. Pilots, tank drivers/operators, air traffic controllers, etc., are using simulations extensively to train. I don't think we can say the same for our cyber operators. Yes, there are some simulations available, but I can't even begin to count how many network/computer outages I've seen that are caused by folks who are doing on-the-job training since no widely available simulation environment exists.

The issue I have with the AF solicitation reported by Wired.com is that good money is being wasted on developing this "training game" to teach troops not to click on things they should not be clicking on.

If you read the original news story that prompted this solicitation, only 0.16% (409 people) in the ad-hoc experiment clicked on the offending banner. To me that seems like an incredibly small percentage. The experiment was not demographically contained, meaning these were not necessarily military personnel.

I'd be more interested to know how many military personnel clicked on the ad before spending military dollars to address this issue. Are we spending good money to develop training solutions to fix stupidity?

I'm not saying that there isn't value in trying to find innovative ways to teach our young (and old) troops, but the justification for this project is on shaky grounds. Funding innovative network/cyber simulators may be a better use of our limited resources.



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By Noah Shachtman July 31, 2008 10:33:00 AM
http://blog.wired.com/defense/2008/07/airmen-will-cli.html

The Air Force is sick of getting pwn3d. So the service wants to develop a little game or two, to teach its airmen not to click on every on-line come-on -- and infect their networks, in the process.

"The fact that 409 people clicked on an ad that offered infection for those with virus-free personal computers proves people will click on just about anything," the Air Force complains. "Yet computer users are still individually held responsible for the operational security of their systems." And cyber security training just doesn't grab the average airman.

So the service wants "to use casual gaming technology to promote warfighter knowledge and awareness of cyber threats and malicious exploits." A request for research proposals notes, "Retention of critical information concerning frequently used exploits (phishing, viruses, worms, spyware, key loggers, etc.), information assurance tools (patches, digital signatures, Common Access Cards, boundary management, firewalls, password protector), and how they affect computers and networks is more likely to occur if the user is engaged."

"Casual games can be very effective in engaging the learner, imparting important information in a timely manner, and aiding in retention of information," the request adds. "The simplicity of micro games gives the user the ability to focus on content, rather than learning the intricacies of the game. "

Some sage observers see cyberwar as akin to the ancient game of Go. The Air Force wants something a little more like Jewel Quest. To grab its airmen, the service thinks these new games should last anywhere from five to 20 minutes, and include "appealing music and stimulating graphics," be able to run on everything from PCs to cell phones. "Innovative and creative approaches to addressing technical goals are invited."