Developing and Evaluating Fraud Informatics Curriculum among Institutions in the Appalachian Region

随着计算机系统和信息技术的迅速发展，各种滥用和欺诈活动（“欺诈”）在网络世界激增。这种扩散破坏了信息系统和网络世界的生态系统，因此对公众，特别是网络安全专业的学生来说，了解流行的网络欺诈、它们对企业和社会的影响以及可能的预防和解决方法至关重要。然而，现有的网络安全课程缺乏专门针对在线欺诈（包括新型欺诈）的课程。为了帮助解决网络空间的威胁和网络安全课程中的知识缺口，宾夕法尼亚州立大学（PSU）和橡树岭联合大学（ORAU）之间的这个合作项目提出：(1)开发一个欺诈信息学课程，有三种交付方式（15周的离线，5周的在线和1天的离线）；(2)通过评估参与者的知识、技能和行为的变化来验证该课程和学习材料的有效性。该项目将结合基于研究的教学方法（即基于小组的学习、基于情境的学习和实践学习），以三种交付方式开发学习材料。该课程将以独特的凝聚力，强调最近的在线欺诈和现象，如垃圾邮件、社会工程攻击、虚假信息、错误信息、虚假信息以及检测和预防此类欺诈的数据驱动解决方案。该课程将由大约10名教师向阿巴拉契亚地区及其他地区的400名本科生讲授。该课程的目标是加强劳动力发展渠道，并最终为无与伦比的多元化网络安全劳动力和公民做出贡献。教学成果和课程材料将有利于普通计算机教育，特别是在全国范围内更广泛的科学和工程社区关注网络安全的学生。通过该项目开发的材料将在项目网站上免费提供：http://fraudinformatics.org/.This该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过基金会的智力价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，认为值得支持。

As computer systems and information technologies rapidly advance, various abusive and fraudulent activities ("frauds") proliferate in the cyber world. This proliferation undermines the ecosystem of information systems and the cyber world, making it critically important for the general public, and in particular cybersecurity students, to be aware of popular online frauds, their implications to businesses and societies, and possible methods of prevention and solutions. However, curricula dedicated to online fraud, including new types of fraud, are lacking from existing cybersecurity curricula. To help address the threats of cyberspace and the knowledge gaps in cybersecurity curricula, this collaborative project between Penn State University (PSU) and Oak Ridge Associated Universities (ORAU) proposes to: (1) develop a fraud informatics curriculum with three delivery options (15-week-long offline, 5-week-long online, and 1-day offline), and (2) validate the effectiveness of this curriculum and learning materials by assessing changes in participants' knowledge, skills, and behaviors.This project will incorporate research-based pedagogical methods (i.e., group-based learning, context-based learning, and hands-on learning) to develop learning materials in three delivery options. The curriculum will be uniquely cohesive in its emphasis on recent online fraud and phenomena such as spam emails, social engineering attacks, astroturfing, misinformation, disinformation and data-driven solutions for detecting and preventing such frauds. The curriculum will be delivered by approximately 10 instructors to 400 undergraduate students in the Appalachian region and beyond. The goal is for the curriculum to strengthen the workforce development pipeline, and to ultimately contribute to an unrivaled, diverse cybersecurity workforce and citizenry. Pedagogical findings and course materials will benefit general computing education, specifically students focusing on cybersecurity in broader scientific and engineering communities throughout the nation. Materials developed through this project will be freely available from a project web site: http://fraudinformatics.org/.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.