The human element is often regarded as the weakest link in cybersecurity. Education efforts in this space, however, focus primarily on the technical aspects of cybersecurity and downplay the relevance of the human factor. One way to exploit this human vulnerability is through social engineering, where cybercriminals utilize persuasion and manipulation to get targets to reveal private information which can then be used to conduct cyberattacks.

Criminal Justice Professor Aunshul Rege and  Criminal Justice PhD students Katorah Williams and Alyssa Mendlein are researching how to engage undergraduate students from multiple STEM disciplines in a hands-on social engineering project. Their first manuscript on this topic, titled An experiential learning cybersecurity project for multiple STEM undergraduates, has been accepted for publication at the 9th IEEE Integrated STEM Education Conference  ISEC, which is being held at Princeton University. 

Congratulations, Katorah and Alyssa!