Galexia

An Overview of International Cyber-Security Awareness Raising and Educational Initiatives (2011)

4.2. Criteria for effective campaigns

It may be useful to develop a set of criteria for commissioning and designing campaigns in Australia. These criteria could be used to help direct limited resources towards campaigns that will be more effective and efficient.

Design criteria that may be appropriate in Australia (incorporating findings from this study) include:

  • 1. Campaigns should be based on a coherent education or awareness raising methodology;
  • 2. Campaigns should include active, systematic and specific skill training;
  • 3. Campaigns should integrate multiple program components;
  • 4. Campaigns should include interactive instructional techniques;
  • 5. Campaigns should incorporate practical activities and tasks that users can undertake to enhance Cyber-Security;
  • 6. Campaigns should, where possible, include a ‘reporting’ function that allows consumers to report Cyber-Security risks and incidents; and
  • 7. Campaigns should include a mix of comprehensive, long-term education and awareness raising – complemented by short and specific initiatives (micro-campaigns), where appropriate.

A similar set of criteria was developed and proposed by Berson and others in 2008 for cyber-safety campaigns[7].These can complement understanding of the detailed needs of a particular project’s specific user groups which is generated by ‘work in progress’ evaluation techniques mentioned above.


[7] Berson, I.R., Berson, M.J., Desai, S., Falls, D., & Fenaughty, J. (2008). An analysis of electronic media to prepare children for safe and ethical practices in digital environments. Contemporary Issues in Technology and Teacher Education [Online serial], 8(3). <http://www.citejournal.org/vol8/iss3/socialstudies/article2.cfm>