Cybersecurity Fundamentals Training Among Middle School Students: Building a Strong Foundation

Qingsong Zhao, Urska Cvek, Kevin Zhao

2025

Abstract

Cyber threats and cybercrimes pose serious challenges for individuals and organizations. Cybersecurity awareness (CSA) training helps mitigate these risks, but its effectiveness depends on accurately assessing participants' CSA levels. Without a solid understanding of cybersecurity fundamentals (CSF), trainees often overestimate their awareness. This study investigates the impact of foundational cybersecurity knowledge on self-assessment accuracy in a CSA training program. Conducted during a summer camp for 61 middle school students, the research involved five phases of targeted instruction and evaluations. We developed a comprehensive program with pre-, mid-, and post-training evaluations to measure participants' awareness. The findings reveal that while students initially overestimated their CSA, training improved both their quiz scores and self-assessment accuracy. This study provides valuable insights into the design of effective CSA training programs and self-assessment tools, offering practical guidelines for middle school students and broader audiences.

Paper Citation

in Harvard Style

Zhao Q., Cvek U. and Zhao K. (2025). Cybersecurity Fundamentals Training Among Middle School Students: Building a Strong Foundation. In Proceedings of the 11th International Conference on Information Systems Security and Privacy - Volume 2: ICISSP; ISBN 978-989-758-735-1, SciTePress, pages 176-183. DOI: 10.5220/0013144500003899

in Bibtex Style

@conference{icissp25,
author={Qingsong Zhao and Urska Cvek and Kevin Zhao},
title={Cybersecurity Fundamentals Training Among Middle School Students: Building a Strong Foundation},
booktitle={Proceedings of the 11th International Conference on Information Systems Security and Privacy - Volume 2: ICISSP},
year={2025},
pages={176-183},
publisher={SciTePress},
organization={INSTICC},
doi={10.5220/0013144500003899},
isbn={978-989-758-735-1},
}

in EndNote Style

TY - CONF

JO - Proceedings of the 11th International Conference on Information Systems Security and Privacy - Volume 2: ICISSP
TI - Cybersecurity Fundamentals Training Among Middle School Students: Building a Strong Foundation
SN - 978-989-758-735-1
AU - Zhao Q.
AU - Cvek U.
AU - Zhao K.
PY - 2025
SP - 176
EP - 183
DO - 10.5220/0013144500003899
PB - SciTePress