Atlantic Security Conference

This talk shares an educator’s attempt to involve undergraduate students across multiple disciplines in experiential learning (EL) class projects on social engineering. Specifically, it focuses on three sub-projects that were implemented in the Fall 2017 semester: (i) shoulder surfing where student teams competed against each other, (ii) laptop distraction, where student teams attempted to convince Temple University Computer Services employees to leave their laptops (designed for the class exercise) so that the students could remove a bogus ‘intellectual property’ file and place a fake ‘malware’ program on the employees’ machines, and (iii) convince individuals on Temple University campus to take a selfie with team members and a ‘rubber chicken’. Through each of these activities, students learn about social engineering tactics and self awareness.
The talk uses the cyclical EL model and its five stages: Experience; Share; Process; Generalize; and Apply to illustrate how students engage in these projects. It highlights several benefits, such as fostering multidisciplinary dialog, developing qualitative research skills, understanding adversarial mindsets, and appreciating the non-technical aspects of cyberattacks. This talk uses students’ and the educator’s reflections as a narrative to discuss ongoing efforts, struggles, challenges, and lessons learned.