Phishing Awareness via Game-Based Learning

TL;DR

This paper presents a game-based learning tool using a serious game with dynamic content to improve user awareness and confidence against various phishing attacks, demonstrating significant effectiveness in a user study.

Contribution

It introduces a novel serious game leveraging Large Language Models and dynamic gameplay features to enhance phishing awareness, which is a new approach in cybersecurity education.

Findings

Participants showed a 24% increase in phishing awareness.

Participants' confidence in avoiding phishing increased by 30%.

The game effectively improved user knowledge and confidence in phishing prevention.

Abstract

The increased use of digital devices and applications has led to a rise in phishing attacks. We develop a serious game to raise awareness about phishing attacks and help people avoid these threats in a risk-free learning environment. This game targets three types of phishing-clone phishing, SMS phishing, and spear phishing-and uses a Large Language Model to generate dialogues and questions dynamically. It also incorporates state randomization and time-limited challenges to enhance the gameplay. We evaluated two groups of participants and found that those who played the game showed, on average, a 24% increase in awareness and a 30% boost in confidence.