Gamification of Cyber Security Awareness : A Systematic Review of Games

The frequency and severity of cyber-attacks have increased over the years with damaging consequences such as financial loss, reputational damage, and loss of sensitive data. Most of these attacks can be attributed to user error. To minimize these errors, cyber security awareness training is conducted to improve user awareness. Cyber security awareness training that is engaging, fun, and motivating is required to ensure that the awareness message gets through to users. Gamification is one such method by which cyber security awareness training can be made fun, engaging, and motivating. This thesis presents the state of the art of games used in cyber security awareness. In this regard, a systematic review of games following PRISMA guidelines was conducted on the relevant papers published between 2010 to 2021. The games were analyzed based on their purpose, cyber security topics taught, target audience, deployment methods, game genres implemented and learning mechanics applied. Analysis of these games revealed that cyber security awareness games are mostly deployed as computer games, targeted at the general public to create awareness in a wide range of cyber security topics. Most of the games implement the role-playing genre and apply demonstration learning mechanics to deliver their cyber security awareness message effectively