Cybersecurity challenges: Serious games for awareness training in industrial environments

Abstract

Awareness of cybersecurity topics, e.g., related to secure coding guidelines, enables software developers to write secure code. This awareness is vital in industrial environments for the products and services in critical infrastructures. In this work, we introduce and discuss a new serious game designed for software developers in the industry. This game addresses software developers’ needs and is shown to be well suited for raising secure coding awareness of software developers in the industry. Our work results from the experience of the authors gained in conducting more than ten CyberSecurity Challenges in the industry. The presented game design, which is shown to be well accepted by software developers, is a novel alternative to traditional classroom training. We hope to make a positive impact in the industry by improving the cybersecurity of products at their early production stages.