PhishWise: Enhancing Students Understanding of Social Engineering Awareness in Phishing Through Gamification

• Main Authors: Wijayanti, Rheva Anindya, Qomariasih, Nurul, Siddiq, Syubbanul, Mahfiridho, Syahrizal Yonanda, Natalia, Monica Christy
• Format: Conference Proceeding
• Language: English
• Subjects: Education; Electronic learning; gamijication; Learning management systems; moodle; octalysis gamification framework; Passwords; Phishing; social engineering; Statistical analysis; User experience
• ISSN: 2770-4807
• DOI: 10.1109/ICET64717.2024.10778460

Phishing poses a significant threat in cybersecurity, often exploiting human vulnerabilities through social engineering. Raising awareness, particularly among students, is essential to mitigate this risk. This paper presents PhishWise, a gamification-based application designed to enhance students' understanding of phishing and social engineering techniques. The gamified learning model is integrated into learning management systems (LMS). The study employed statistical analyses to evaluate PhishWise's impact on students' awareness. Using an experimental method, students were divided into a control group and an experimental group. The experimental group was taught using PhishWise, while the control group received conventional instruction. The research, conducted through an e-learning instructional model using Moodle, demonstrated significant improvements in comprehension. The Wilcoxon test results, with a p-value of less than 0.001, indicated a significant difference between pre-test and post-test scores in the gamification group, highlighting the intervention's effectiveness. Furthermore, the Mann-Whitney test confirmed a substantial increase in understanding, reinforcing PhishWise's impact. As an educational tool, PhishWise not only enhanced comprehension but also increased participants' motivation, as evidenced by a Likert Scale score of 93.3% in the "very high" category.