ECSO - European Cyber Security Organisation

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The European Cyber Security Organisation’s (ECSO) Youth4Cyber initiative is aimed at educating and raising the awareness of young people (6 to 26-year olds) on cybersecurity.

Mission & Objectives

To raise the level of cyber hygiene.
To stimulate an interest for a career in cybersecurity among the European youth.

Through a set of modules targeting specific age groups, Youth4Cyber endeavours to teach young kids about cyber hygiene and basic cybersecurity concepts and young adults on cybersecurity trends and the different possible career paths in cyber.

The methodology

The Youth4Cyber methodology is geared towards presenting cybersecurity to the youth in a simple, coherent, and engaging manner.

The modules will have a minimum level of desired content to be delivered for each age group which can be built upon according to a given audience, trainer experience ,local/national/regional context, etc.

The idea is to provide an agile methodology able to adapt to each context but with clear guidelines for a minimum level of content or topics to address with each age group, laying the foundations for a harmonised approach to cyber hygiene and cybersecurity teaching for youth in the EU.

The modules

Each module is dedicated and adapted to a specific maturity level (groups of 4 years, from ages 6 to 26) with an additional Module 0 on Train the Trainers.

Modules can include around 5 to 7 core topics to tackle and should take around 45 min to 2hto deliver. Each topic is focused on one particular angle, implication or question on cybersecurity, with clear objectives and opportunities for utilising different teaching methods to deliver the messages (seminars, videos ,quizzes, demos, gaming, interactive discussion, etc.).

Modules 1-3 provide simple rules for cyber hygiene and teach the basics of cybersecurity to children (from an early age) about the potential threats on the Internet.
Modules 4-5 delve into specific topics to show the intricacies and multi-faceted nature of the field to pique their interest and show them the opportunities for a career in cybersecurity and ICT security. With the development of the modules, ECSO does not intend to create competition with service providers or universities but to create awareness with the larger public beyond the specialists.

Note: some modules are still in development

Collaborations

Youth4Cyber will leverage on existing initiatives & tools at European and national level to deliver its modules and is very open to collaborations, joint ventures, etc. Organisations and experts who wish to get involved can exchange expertise and contents with Youth4Cyber and jointly deliver a Youth4Cyber module focusing on cybersecurity theory & practice, core education areas, and job opportunities. Experts are also invited to volunteer themselves to deliver a talk/seminar/demo on specific topics.

Previous collaborators include Intesa Sanpaolo, Comune Di Milano, Università Bocconi, Politecnico di Milano and Stem in the City.