Grok Academy invites NZ students to third annual Cyber Comp

Grok Academy has officially opened registrations for the third annual Cyber Comp, inviting New Zealand students to engage in practical online safety and security experiences nationwide. As part of the Cyber Skills Aotearoa initiative, the Cyber Comp is a four-week challenge, commencing on 20 May. To date, the Cyber Skills initiative has roped in more than 20,000 students across the country and equipped them with key cybersecurity skills since its inception in 2022.

The Cyber Comp encourages students to step into the shoes of a hacker, enabling them to recognise potential scams better. The tasks require students to collect personal data from the social media profiles of fictitious personalities, a process that helps illustrate the significance of securing personal information. The program hammers home the importance of a strong, unique password and gives students an understanding of how encryption works. Also, the curriculum educates teenagers on ways to protect themselves from common scams, such as phishing, and identity theft.

Last year alone, nearly a quarter of all incidents reported to CERT NZ involved some degree of financial loss, totalling $18.3 million. Phishing and Credential Harvesting, Scams and Fraud, and Unauthorised Access, were the three most common incident categories. In this situation, establishing comprehensive cybersecurity education for schools, targeting students from Year 6 to Year 13, is crucial.

Participation in real-world cybersecurity scenarios helps students gain essential skills. For instance, safeguarding personal information, creating unique and strong passwords, and grasping encryption are part of the skilling process. These interactive tasks are designed to aid students in recognising and defending against the most frequent online threats, underscoring the importance of cybersecurity in their routine lives.

"The strong enrolment figures underscore the growing recognition of the importance of cybersecurity education in schools throughout Aotearoa New Zealand," Dr. James Curran, founder of Grok Academy, commented. He mentioned that Cyber Skills Aotearoa offers an impactful way for teachers to familiarise students with crucial cybersecurity practices, readying them to cruise the digital world safely, and equipping them with the requisite knowledge and tools to defend themselves and their families.

Development of the content was through collaboration with the government, educators, and industry; including Ttai Aho Rau CORE Education, Ministry of Education, ASB, BNZ, CERT NZ, Network for Learning (N4L), the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), and the New Zealand Government. Cyber Skills Aotearoa's course methodology and content have been adapted from the successful program designed by the not-for-profit organization, Grok Academy, which has already been undertaken by over 212,000 Australian school students.

The comprehensive Cyber Skills Aotearoa program offers four dedicated courses: Information Privacy and Security Challenge (both secondary schools version and primary & intermediate schools version); Web Application Security Challenge; and the Cryptography Challenge. Each course provides students with a comprehensive grounding in security-aware behaviour and practices, from secure online communication to dealing with phishing scams and identity-specific thefts.