Analogies of Information Security

Abstract

In this thesis it will be tested wither analogies and metaphors would make it easier to teach the fundamental subjects of information security and hacking to people with no previous background in computer science and only basic computer skills. This will be done by conducting interview on people with no background in computer science to see what analogies work the best for different topics in information security. From the analogy getting the best response, a small game will be designed with the purpose of using this analogy to teach beginners in the topic.

From the interviews conducted, it was found that the topics considered complicated and difficult by the interviewees the analogies had the best effect. The most popular analogy was explaining the basics of public key encryption and this was then made into a small game taking inspiration from several gamification elements.

The interviews also reveled that analogies often had little effect for topics that were considered straightforward as they usually became redundant and inferior to ordinary explanations of the topic.