IT student built online games to help young people become cyber smart

IT student built online games to help young people become cyber smart

A student from RMIT Vietnam School of Science, Engineering & Technology (SSET) developed fun and engaging cyber security games for high school students to prepare them for the cyber world.

Bachelor of Information Technology student La Tran Hai Dang thought he was cyber security savvy when he was assigned the task of building back-end content for RMIT Centre of Digital Excellence (CODE) gamification workshop series, which aims at providing students with opportunities to practice simple personal cyber safety to reduce the risk of falling for phishing attacks. 

Alt Text is not present for this image, Taking dc:title 'news-1-it-student-built-online-games-to-help-young-people-become-cyber-smart' RMIT Bachelor of Information Technology student La Tran Hai Dang developed fun and engaging cyber security games for high school students to prepare them for the cyber world.

“As a third-year student, I thought I was kind of well prepared for the cyber world as an IT student,” Dang said.

“But it was not the case when I did research for the games.

“Thanks to days of doing research about the overview of phishing and cyber-attacks in Vietnam, I know what a strong password is and which risky online behaviours young adults in Vietnam are most likely to engage in.”

According to the global cyber security company Kaspersky, Vietnam is among the top targets for phishing in Southeast Asia. There were 1,383 cyberattacks recorded across Vietnam in the first month of 2022, an increase of over 10% on December 2021 (Vietnam National Cyber Security Centre - NCSC).

It took Dang more than four months to finally bring the games to life.

“The games include three main topics: detecting phishing, brute-force hacking and cyber risk,” Dang said.

“Players identify non-phishing emails, ads, websites and text messages, which are similar to what they are engaging on a daily basis such as through purchasing a product or service through e-wallets, testing the strength of their passwords on a 3-digit lock, and role-playing a student and making decisions to help them protect themselves from cyber risk on daily activities.”

Alt Text is not present for this image, Taking dc:title 'news-2-it-student-built-online-games-to-help-young-people-become-cyber-smart' RMIT Centre of Digital Excellence (CODE) gamification workshop series, launched in May, attracted more than 1,800 students from 12 cities and provinces across Vietnam.

Since the program launch on May, more than 1,800 students from 12 cities and provinces across Vietnam have been enjoying ‘being tricked’ by Dang’s games and getting ready for an increasingly virtual world.

With the introduction of the IT subject in MOET’s new curriculum, the workshops which Dang helped to develop provide an innovative and interactive tool for high school teachers to boost their student’s cyber safety awareness, said CODE Digital Outreach and Engagement Manager Huynh Thuc Yen.

It was a win-win assignment to Dang as there’s nothing that can beat the hands-on experience.

“Apart from extended knowledge about cyber security that I acquired, web development from back end to front end, practical database concept, database management, project management, to name a few, were the big wins I got from the opportunity to be involved in CODE project,” Dang said.

“One of the courses that I undertook as part of my degree, the web programming, was very useful in helping me deliver the project successfully.”

Dang was a member of the team RMIT-badger. He was one of the three SSET students who ranked 21st worldwide at the AWS DeepRacer hosted by the leading global cloud services provider - Amazon Web Services, and he has been with CODE team for more than a year as a part-time Technical Support Officer.

“I don’t think I have had so many opportunities to grow when I first enrolled in RMIT,” Dang said.

“But here I am, making the most out of every opportunity and can’t wait for my graduation in 2024.”

Story: Ha Hoang

21 December 2022

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