If you haven’t heard of Roblox, you probably don’t have kids like me. Roblox is an online virtual world/metaverse that has been around since 2006 that allows people to play with others and is super popular with young people. We know from research done at Berkeley that gamification can be a good way to get students engaged with cybersecurity.
So the team here at KnowBe4 dreamed up and created a game of virtual cats vs. virtual mice with phishing emails, VPNs, ransomware and more, all on the Roblox platform. The idea is that you get randomly divided into teams of cats and mice. The mice are the hackers and the cats are the defenders - they can even do Cat Awareness Training (CAT) to reduce their risk. We hope this game will increase awareness of cyber threats and maybe encourage more students to consider a career in cybersecurity. This game is available for free as part of our KnowBe4 Children’s Interactive Cybersecurity Activity Kit.
Children’s Interactive Cybersecurity Activity Kit
The Children’s Interactive Cybersecurity Activity Kit is a set of free resources designed to educate kids from 5 to 15 years old through interactive materials and engaging activities, making the complex world of online security accessible and understandable. It has various resources that were created in partnership with parents and education professionals and includes activity kits, a video and games, all aimed at equipping people with the knowledge and skills needed to protect themselves from cyber attacks.
Whether you are a teacher/educator or a concerned parent educating your family, the Cybersecurity Activity Kit from KnowBe4 is designed to be a valuable tool to raise awareness about cyber threats and give practical skills to deal with them.
There are three games that are part of this kit. The first one is Password Zapper, where you blast through space, strengthening your password skills as you target weak passwords and preserve strong ones in this retro arcade-style shooter game. Another game is a spin-off of one of our most popular games on the KnowBe4 platform for adults, Spot the Phish: Kid’s Edition, a concise module explaining and exemplifying phishing in relatable scenarios in a fun game format.
The Roblox Game “Hack-A-Cat” is just the latest edition to this growing set of resources that we make available completely for free to help schools and young people. You can access the game by searching “KnowBe4” in the Roblox platform or directly linked through the kit (recommended as it is easier than the Roblox search).
Games as Effective Learning Tools
We know games can be effective tools for all ages, and with our platform, we have over 28 games that are part of our security awareness training library with even more currently in development. We plan on launching the first game to address compliance incident reporting in the next few months as part of the Compliance Plus library. We are also hard at work on a game based on one of our most popular video series on the platform. Stay tuned for more announcements on that front!
With that in mind, we decided to get our KnowBe4 Cybersecurity experts to try out the Hac-A-Cat Roblox game and play the game together. I joined them, and the result was a lot of fun. You can check it out here:
We believe strongly in the power of games and will be adding more. If you would like to see some of the security and compliance games we have on the platform, please reach out to us and we will be happy to get you a demo. In the meantime, please use these free resources and share them with your friends, family, and coworkers.
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