Game to Learn IT Security Crime - Article Example

Article Summary Laura Rosas and Wil Phelps, IT Security professionals, have developed a game to be used in security training. They were motivated by a need to, “…to address a series of dilemmas staff were having.(McNickle, 2012) The nature of the dilemmas revolved around the overall efficiency and success of security practices in real life security scenarios within healthcare facilities. The program, called, CyberSecure, is designed to use the in-game avatars to simulate and safely test and improve the outcomes of the staff as a whole.

The games covers issues like proper procedures to protect and control access to patient information, keeping passwords secure, and how to secure and encrypt any information in mobile devices. The “players” of the game are given different scenarios and options as to how they think they should proceed. They are scored based on these choices and shown means as to how to improve their scores and practices. This program, ideally, was intended, by the creators, to be implemented in smaller medical practices, although anyone can use them, because these smaller practices , “…don’t have the budget or infrastructure.

” (McNickle, 2012) The game is, also, intended to appeal to the younger, gaming-generation, entering the workforce. However, despite the positive responses to CyberSecure, Chad Boeckmann, president of Security Data Solutions, and Mahmood Sher-Jan, vice president of product development at ID Experts, believe that games, albeit a fine temporary solution, will soon be replaced. Boeckmann feels that interactive video will, likely, become very popular, it is more adaptable and less costly to produce.

Sher-Jan, believes that interactive role playing games will be much more successful as security training simulations. In these scenarios participants will not always be aware it is a game, thus making the results much more realistic. If they know they are playing a game, where there are no real consequences and there is no real sense of urgency, this may alter how seriously they conduct themselves. Ultimately, the article proves that how healthcare staff are trained and tested is changing in some interesting ways.

References McNickle, M. (2012, September 25). Avatar game makes it security training less painful. InformationWeek-Healthcare, 1. Retrieved from http://www.informationweek.com/healthcare/policy/avatar-game-makes-it-security-training-l/240007908 McNickle, M. (2012, September 25). Avatar game makes it security training less painful. InformationWeek-Healthcare, 1. Retrieved from http://www.informationweek.com/healthcare/policy/avatar-game-makes-it-security-training-l/240007908 (McNickle, 2012)