Institute for Cyber Security

Current research projects

We are currently developing PictureIT and ITventures, which use playful and metaphorical approaches to teach security awareness.

Build your successful Social Network Platform

PictureIT is a so-called “serious game”, i.e. a computer game that is intended to be both fun and to teach specialized knowledge in the areas of IT security. The combination of game and knowledge transfer makes it suitable for a broad user group. Pupils and students can use PictureIT to get a playful approach to IT security. For company employees PictureIT can be used both as a tool to raise awareness and a further education measure.

The objective of the game is to build an Internet platform where users can share their photos (and videos) with other users. The player should build a service similar to Instagram. In doing so, the player is in competition with other companies in the game that are also building such a service. The player should generate as much turnover as possible with his PictureIT service. This depends, for example, on the number of users and the associated advertising revenue.

Download the Game prototype on GameZone 2021 or in the HdM Mediathek.

Play the current development version here

Discover IT together

Tanning at the beach or hiking in the mountains? Decide for yourself in which way you want to explore the cyber world. We accompany you on your ITventures, guide you and introduce you to new languages, cultures and habits. We are planning an interactive concept to create a stronger awareness of cyber-security among young people. For this purpose we put cyber security into the context of a journey.

Our goal is to increase the awareness of cyber security among young people, such as students. During surveys it became clear that young users often feel helpless with this topic. They want a trustworthy contact person - like a guide on a trip.

We want to transfer the idea of the guide into an interactive game and therefore put cyber security situations from the everyday life of students into the context of travel adventures, the ITventures. The institute takes the role of the cyberguide and helps the young users to orientate themselves in cyberspace. In this way, we motivate a playful engagement with the topic and enable them to experience the diversity of the cyber world in a protected environment.

Test out ITventures with a clickable prototype here