Gaming Improves Cyber Awareness
Inspired by a passion for data security and privacy protection, SUNY Canton Associate Professor Kambiz Ghazinour created a game-based learning platform that teaches individuals to mitigate security threats online.
Noting that cybersecurity systems are only as strong as their weakest link, Ghazinour pointed out that in vast majority of cases the weakest link is human. “Current training models that rely on videos and pop quizzes to teach how to protect against cyber threats are not very effective,” he noted. “Rather than telling people what to do, I thought it would be better to have them learn through simulations.”
Ghazinour was right. Using pre- and post-game surveys and other techniques, his research team found that users demonstrated at least a 30% increase in cybersecurity knowledge after one round of play. Ghazinour launched a startup, CyberSpara, to bring his Digital-Privacy and Security Simulation (Digital-PASS) learning software to the marketplace.
In 2022, Ghazinour was awarded a SUNY TAF investment to further develop the platform, raising the total outside funding for Digital-PASS to more than $440,000. “The ‘A’ in TAF stands for accelerator and this investment, combined with the other grants we’ve received to improve our platform, put the development of our product 4-5 months ahead of schedule,” Ghazinour said.
About the SUNY TAF
A significant obstacle to the commercial development of university technology is the lack of funding for promising discoveries after government-sponsored support ends and before a licensee or venture-capital support is secured. The SUNY Technology Accelerator Fund (SUNY TAF) program was established in 2011 to help bridge that gap for SUNY researchers. SUNY TAF targets critical research and development milestones—such as feasibility studies, prototyping, and testing—which demonstrate that an idea or innovation has commercial potential. The goal is to increase the likelihood of potential investors and other partners to translate these early-stage technologies into products and services with transformational capabilities.
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