The Privacy Universe – a game-based learning platform for data protection, privacy and ethics

Recruiting and educating cybersecurity professionals continues to be a challenge. It is not hard for people with a preexisting interest to learn more, but in order to fill the gap of missing professionals within the field it is necessary to reach a broader audience and make more people interested in cybersecurity. One element in achieving this, is to show that cybersecurity is not only a technical discipline. Privacy Universe is a platform built within the Haaukins training platform, which a focus on privacy, data protection, ethics and social media usage, targeting less technical students. It enables students to learn about cybersecurity and privacy with hands-on training in a closed and secure environment. This paper presents the platform as well as a survey of 50 students of which 80% who have replied that their learning outcome is 4 or 5 on a scale from 1–5, 5 being the highest. In addition to this, a majority also found that their interest within cybersecurity increased based on their experience with Privacy Universe. This indicates that Privacy Universe is a beneficial addition to the already existing platforms to make cybersecurity interesting for a broader audience, in a field where those competences are much needed.