Gamified Intelligent Cyber Aptitude and Skills Training (GICAST)

We shop online. We work online. We play online. We live online. As our lives increasingly depend on digital services, the need to protect our information from being maliciously disrupted or misused is really important.

This course, Gamified Intelligent Cyber Aptitude and Skills Training (GICAST), will help you to understand online security and start to protect your digital life, whether at home or work. You will learn how to recognise the threats that could harm you online and the steps you can take to reduce the chances that they will happen to you.

With cyber security often in the news today, the course will also frame your online safety in the context of the wider world, introducing you to different types of malware, including viruses and trojans, as well as concepts such as network security, cryptography, identity theft and risk management.

This course has been developed by The Open University with support from the UK Government's National Cyber Security Programme and can be accessed free of charge.

Enrolling on the course will give you the opportunity to earn an Open University digital badge. Badges are not accredited by The Open University but they're a great way to demonstrate your interest in the subject and commitment to your career, and to provide evidence of continuing professional development.

Once you are signed in, you can manage your digital badges online from My OpenLearn. In addition, you can download and print your OpenLearn statement of participation - which also displays your Open University badge.

The Open University would really appreciate a few minutes of your time to tell us about yourself and your expectations for the course before you begin, in our optional start-of-course survey . Once you complete the course we would also value your feedback and suggestions for future improvement, in our optional end-of-course survey . Participation will be completely confidential and we will not pass on your details to others.

Anyone wishing to provide evidence of their enrolment on this course is able to do so by sharing their Activity Record on their OpenLearn Profile, which is available before completion of the course and earning of the Statement of Participation.

A YouTube channel has been created with some supporting materials for this course, including a full demo of using the course, and other cyber security news. You can find the channel here: GICAST YouTube channel .

Requirements

The course does not assume any prior knowledge of computer security and can be enjoyed by anyone interested in improving the security of their digital information.

Course learning outcomes

After studying this course, you should be able to:

• Start to protect your digital life
• Recognise threats to your online safety
• Take steps to reduce the risk of online threats
• Understand concepts including malware, viruses and trojans
• Consider network security, cryptography and identity theft.