Högskolan i Skövde

One of the main challenges in the cybersecurity industry is the skills gap. This is manifested both as a lack of qualified staff and as a lack of general cybersecurity skills among the working population at large. To better the situation, high-quality learning resources that capture the inherent socio-technical nature of cybersecurity are needed. The focus of this research is on Cybersecurity body of knowledge (CyBOK) which is a comprehensive and free to access cybersecurity resource that comprise 21 topical texts called knowledge areas, and additional resources such as labs, lectures, and webinars. This research studies two cases where CyBOK has been used as a learning material in higher education. The goal of the study is to both evaluate the student’s perception of CyBOK and the extent to which the comprehensiveness of CyBOK facilitates student engagement in topics not directly included in the assigned course material. The results suggests that CyBOK is indeed useful as a learning material for higher education and could support student engagement with cybersecurity, but the way in which it is explained and integrated into curricula is crucial.