Redesign and Evaluation of a Gaming Approach for the Exploration of Network Traffic by Non-Experts

As internet use is ever-growing, the cyber threats and exploitation of vulnerabilities increase as well. Nonexperts are particularly vulnerable to cybersecurity threats, as they lack the resources to take proper precautions. In this thesis, we redesign a serious game on cybersecurity, NetVisGame, to address the lack of motivation, awareness, and knowledge of non-experts. Our prototype incorporates the user's personal network data, as well as lessons on relevant cybersecurity threats. It consists of a casual game and a complementary visualization of the user's personal data. The game has a warm-up, where the user gets to know the components of the own home network, and three levels, which cover the topics: malware, third-party cookies, and encryption of websites. For our evaluation, we conducted a user study (N = 12), which showed that our prototype increased users' awareness of potential threats and vulnerabilities. The users also gained knowledge on some relevant prevention measures.