Abstract:

Cryptocurrency scams have emerged as the fastest growing segment of cybercriminal activity worldwide. Despite the rapid proliferation of fraudulent cryptocurrency investment and gambling websites, current detection and response mechanisms remain reactive and largely dependent on victim reporting. The ScamBusters: University Edition project, developed by the Intelligence4Good organization, seeks to contribute to disruption of cryptocurrency scams online by working with universities to provide students with the skills, tools, and opportunities to help identify and report these websites. Through the initiative, students are provided with initial training on online safety, operational security, OSINT, and more. Following training, students join teams and develop their own solution for improving the identification and reporting of these websites. This results in students having authentic learning experiences in the cybersecurity domain, which require them to apply and grow their cybersecurity knowledge and practices. Further, the initiative provides a community of practice that connects student teams at universities all across the United States, with unique opportunities for engagement, networking, and knowledge exchange. In this paper, we describe a student and faculty perspective on participation in the initiative within a Social Engineering course of undergraduate and graduate students. In our implementation of the project, students participate in ScamBusters across a 12 week period, iteratively improving their process throughout. We describe course integration, experiences of both a student team and the instructor, challenges, plans for future expansion of the classroom project, and an example of our team's solution within the project. By sharing our experiences, challenges, and recommendations, this paper provides a practical roadmap for educators seeking to incorporate real-world cybersecurity projects into their own courses.

Keywords:

Education, Cybersecurity, authentic learning.