The VBBL is scheduled to be on November 13, 2019 starting at 2:00-2:45PM Eastern Time.

In this VBBL, Laurin Buchanan will discuss and demonstrate the use of Comic-BEE, a novel cybersecurity education technology designed to support the rapid creation of interactive, graphic stories–web comics–that align with cybersecurity curricular goals. By making choices on behalf of a character in the comic, readers experience the outcome of those choices–positive or negative–in a safe environment. These web comics can be used for education or evaluation (assessment) of diverse cybersecurity knowledge, skills and abilities.

September 26, 2019 — Comic-BEE today announced its commitment to National Cybersecurity Awareness Month (NCSAM), held annually in October, by signing up as a Champion and joining a growing global effort to promote the awareness of online safety and privacy. NCSAM is a collaborative effort among businesses, government agencies, colleges and universities, associations, nonprofit organizations, and individuals committed to this year’s NCSAM theme: “Own IT. Secure IT. Protect IT.” This theme encourages everyone to #BeCyberSmart through cybersecurity best practices.

“Cybersecurity is important to the success of all businesses and organizations. NCSA is proud to have such a strong and active community helping to encourage proactive behavior and prioritize cybersecurity in their organizations,” said Kelvin Coleman, executive director, NCSA.

May 1, 2019 – Northport, NY: Today, Secure Decisions launched the “Cyber Savvy Educators Contest,” which challenges middle school educators to create a branching web comic around the importance of strong passwords for their students. Branching web comics are graphic stories where a reader makes choices on behalf of a character, causing the story to follow a variety of branches that result in different outcomes. These visual, interactive stories engage young learners and help them understand the cause- effect relationship between cyber events and daily activity.

Teachers will use Comic-BEE, a revolutionary platform developed by Secure Decisions that helps educators quickly and easily create interactive, branching web comics aligned with instructional goals. Branching comics are a great way for anyone to explore cyber concepts and events, particularly middle school students, who are often disinclined to read long texts, and find videos boring. Registered participants will receive free access to Comic-BEE for the duration of the contest. Comic-BEE includes everything needed to create a branching web comic, including professionally created artwork. As a web application, Comic-BEE does not require any software installs and/or browser plug-ins to create or read comics, which makes it easy to use in the classroom.

Secure Decisions is partnering with By Kids For Kids (BKFK), an educational and family marketing company that connects its clients to teachers, students, and households with innovative marketing, corporate social responsibility (CSR) programs, and national competitions. BKFK will promote the Cyber Savvy Educators contest to its network of K12 educators and administer the contest through its existing competition platform.

Educators may register for the Cyber Savvy Educators Contest here.

April 3, 2019

CyberMiSTS is a collaborative project between Secure Decisions and Stony Brook University, and supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant Nos. 1821753 and 1821757.

Comic-BEE is based on research sponsored by the Department of Homeland Security Science and Technology Directorate, Cyber Security Division (DHS S&T/CSD) via contract numbers HSHQDC-14-C-B0019 and HHSP233201600057C.

CyberMiSTS is a collaborative project between Secure Decisions and Stony Brook University, and supported by the National Science Foundation under Grant Nos. 1821753 and 1821757.

Want to engage your college students more deeply in your course topic and assess their understanding of course materials? Have them create a branching web-comic using Comic-BEE instead of writing a term paper! Students have reported that writing a comic in Comic-BEE is more enjoyable than writing a paper, and instructors say that reading the comics was faster to evaluate than a paper with citations.

November is National Career Development month and November 12-17 is National Cybersecurity Career Awareness Week (NCCAW). Comic-BEE will be doing its part to support NCCAW’s goal to inspire, educate, and engage children through adults to pursue careers in cybersecurity. During NCCAW, Comic-BEE will make available several comics for use as part of NCCAW activities. Comics about a wide range of topics and suited for learners of all ages will be available for free but require a simple signup.

Laurin Buchanan, Principal Investigator for Comic-BEE, has joined the Editorial Board of Cybersecurity Skills Journal: Practice and Research (CSJ), published by the National CyberWatch Center (NCC).

The CSJ is a unique “hybrid-access” scholarly publication focused exclusively on cybersecurity skills and is the first publication to bridge the profession’s theory-practice divide by publishing research on the theories, measurement methods, evidence-based practices, and effective pedagogy required for the skilled performance of cybersecurity tactics, techniques, and protocols. The journal’s goal is to improve the cybersecurity workforce by freely disseminating research and provide private access to digital tools and guides.

As Principal Investigator at Secure Decisions, Laurin leads R&D projects on cybersecurity education and improving the human cybersecurity decision processes. Her prior 20 years’ experience managing, securing and defending corporate networks informs her research projects, which have been funded by DHS S&T CSD, the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory, and the National Science Foundation. Laurin is a Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) and was a subject matter expert participant in the development of the National Initiative for Cybersecurity Education’s Workforce Framework. She has developed training and education materials for a wide range of audiences, and regularly publishes about her research in peer-reviewed journals. A frequent speaker at conferences and events, Laurin is also currently co-chair of the NICE Working Group’s Competitions Subgroup.

Join us on November 6th & 7th in Miami for the National Initiative for Cybersecurity Education (NICE) Conference and Expo! Stop by our booth #113 to see a live demo of Comic-BEE and learn how you can use Comic-BEE to create engaging content to educate or evaluate cybersecurity knowledge and skills at any level. Comic-BEE has been successfully used with K12 students in camps and after school workshops, and in college classes. We can help you create a novel challenge or competition for your team, or get the word out at your company about new cyber risks.

Also, on Tuesday, November 6th at 1:30 PM, Laurin Buchanan, Principal Investigator for Comic-BEE and co-chair of the NICE Working Group’s Competition Subgroup, will be moderating the panel, “Play your way to success: building tomorrow’s workforce.” Members of the NICE Working Group’s Competition Subgroup will highlight how a wide spectrum of new cyber games and competitions are being used across different levels of the cyber career pipeline to attract interest in cyber careers and as part of formal education. Hear how games are being used for practice, training and education in the cyber workforce, and learn about advanced, professional cyber exercises.

We are pleased to announce that Comic-BEE was selected as the Best Student Learning Aid in the 2nd Annual Innovations in Cybersecurity Education Awards from the National CyberWatch Center. The awards were announced on August 2, 2018 at the 2018 Community College Cyber Summit (3CS) at Mt. Hood Community College, in Gresham, Oregon.

Built on research with educators and developed by Secure Decisions, Comic-BEE is a web application that lets educators and students design, script, storyboard, and publish branching interactive web comics that engage, instruct, and evaluate over a wide range of cybersecurity concepts. Comic-BEE simplifies and accelerates the creation and delivery of these interactive, educational materials through a unique system that enables authors to easily develop branching storylines using advanced automation technologies and pre-rendered art assets. Students can achieve a deeper understanding of cyber concepts by creating their own comics that show how situations unfold with different positive and negative outcomes.

Comic-BEE will be exhibiting at the Community College Cyber Summit (3CS) at Mt. Hood Community College in Gresham, Oregon from August 2-4, 2018. Come see a demonstration of Comic-BEE and learn about how you can use interactive branching comics for cyber security education!

3CS is the only national academic conference focused on cyber security education at community colleges. It enables educators and students to meet and learn about the latest technologies, industry practices, and courses. The summit is organized by the National CyberWatch Center, National Resource Center for Systems Security and Information Assurance, CyberWatch West, and Broadening Advanced Technological Education Connections, which are all funded by the National Science Foundation (NSF). Interested students and employers may also attend the Pre-Summit Job Fair on August 2.

Comic-BEE will be exhibiting during the Summit (June 5 -7, 2018) and providing live demonstrations that show how Comic-BEE makes it easy to create branching web-comics that convey valuable lessons in cyber security, without needing artists, writers, or programmers. The engaging web-comic format is ideal for creating customized content for education or evaluation, for workforce or potential hires at any level.

Laurin Buchanan, Principal Investigator for Secure Decisions, will also give a “Lightning Round” presentation about Comic-BEE in the Exhibit Hall on Stage 2 on Wednesday, June 6 from 3:00-3:15 p.m.

The National Cyber Summit is the preeminent event for cyber training, education and workforce development aimed at protecting our nation’s infrastructure from the ever-evolving cyber threat. Held in Huntsville, Alabama, one of the nation’s largest technological hubs, the Summit attracts both government and commercial participants.

Laurin Buchanan is a Certified Information Security Systems Professional, and Principal Investigator with the Secure Decisions division of Applied Visions, Inc. She spent two decades managing IT operations and information security in the corporate sector, most recently for a Fortune 1000 company. She now uses that operational background to lead R&D efforts for new and novel solutions to improve the cybersecurity decision making by humans in the loop, from automating decision support for network security policy management, to modeling and automatically mapping dependencies between missions, users, and cyber assets. Most recently she has worked to understand the decision processes of Computer Network Defense analysts and the use of visualizations to enhance those decisions, and to develop Comic-BEE, a novel, interactive approach for cybersecurity education and evaluation using interactive webcomics that are engaging for all age and expertise levels.

A recent article from Newsday investigated the exorbitant costs associated with cyber security breaches, and concluded that the majority of these breaches are the result of staff that is poorly trained to identify relevant cyber threats. The article discussed the various methods developed by Long Island businesses to better train employees and students to recognize cyber security threats and handle them appropriately. Laurin Buchanan, Principal Investigator for Comic-BEE, was interviewed for the article, which includes details about the Comic-BEE project.

Comic-BEE is an innovative, all-in-one application that allows educators and trainers to create interactive branching comics without help from a programmer or artist. Comic-BEE gives students the opportunity to make decisions and control the flow of the story, so they quickly learn the consequences of those decisions. Comic-BEE also can collect metrics that allow educators and employers to assess specific cyber knowledge and skills.

Comic-BEE represents a novel approach for cyber security education, providing a platform by which cyber security experts can create realistic and engaging scenarios that communicate and assess diverse cyber concepts and threats. Comic-BEE also incorporates the NICE Cybersecurity Workforce Framework, a set of standards, taxonomy, and common vocabulary used to describe cyber security work roles and activities.

Comic-BEE is running a contest for NICE Conference and Expo attendees. Come see us at booth #402 for details on how you can win an iPad!

The NICE Conference and Expo is an opportunity for cyber security professionals in both the public and private sectors to learn about industry best practices, education and training methods, and new strategic priorities for NICE. It will feature thought leaders from education, government, business, and non-profits who seek to improve cyber security education and training.

During a Homeland Security Department conference Tuesday, the company Secure Decisions presented a new interactive tool it’s developed that allows companies and educators to lay out cybersecurity lessons into interactive web comics without hiring a developer or graphics designer.

Organizations that use the tool can storyboard various cybersecurity challenges, projects and dilemmas using cartoon figures and thought bubbles, Laurin Buchanan, Secure Decisions’ principal investigator for cybersecurity education research, said during a demo at DHS’ Research and Development Showcase.

They can also set up logic chains of correct and incorrect responses and track how well students and trainees perform, Buchanan said.

Buchanan showed a sample page in which a woman names Alice must choose whether to share her password with someone on the phone who claims to be “Bob in IT.” (Hint: Bad idea, Alice.) Other tutorials can tackle more complex cybersecurity topics, Buchanan said.

The tool has been piloted at Stony Brook University in New York and at cyber-focused summer camps, including GenCyber, sponsored by the National Security Agency and the National Science Foundation, Buchanan said. It’s now available free to government agencies.

The 2017 Cyber Security R&D Showcase and Technical Workshop will present the results of $250 million in federally-funded cyber security R&D. According to DHS, over 1,000 attendees are expected including investors, chief information security officers, and other potential market transition partners. The Cyber Security Division selected Comic-BEE, out of over 115 research projects they currently fund, to be one of just ten transition-ready technologies to be featured at this important event.

Comic-BEE’s Principal Investigator, Laurin Buchanan, will be presenting the research project on behalf of Secure Decisions. Showcase attendees will also be given the opportunity for a hands-on demonstration of the new technology as part of a special competition run by the Comic-BEE team.

“We need a new way to engage people —students, the workforce, and decision makers at all levels— and help them understand cyber security risks in the new ‘information worker’ economy.” Ms. Buchanan stated. “Comic-BEE aims to provide educators and employers with a powerful, integrated solution that can help both educate and evaluate our current and future workforce.”

Comic‑BEE integrates the creation of lesson plans for specific curriculum goals with the process of creating a comic for education or evaluation—specifically, a graphic, branching story where readers make choices, and the story changes based on the choices made. “Stories can be used to explore a wide range of cyber security aspects, such as ethics, privacy, strategy, and the law,” Ms. Buchanan stated. “They also provide a way to gain an understanding of a whole process—say, incident response—or understanding the strategy involved in cyber security decision making, such as the consequences of specific risk management and security design considerations, or when and how to use a network scanning tool in stealth mode as part of a penetration testing scenario.”

Comic-BEE requires no programming knowledge or input from graphic artists. The application guides educators and employers through the process of creating a complex, branching storyline that demonstrates a clear cause-and-effect relationship between cyber events and choices, and their real-life consequences. By specifying both the relative quality and expertise of each choice in the story and associating those choices with the learning objectives from their lesson plan, educators and employers can ensure the story addresses the intended curricular goals.

The Comic-BEE team is currently conducting multiple pilots to demonstrate how the comics can be used in various environments,and is seeking partners to author and pilot cyber security comics as part of classroom curriculum, as well as educators and employers interested in creating and using scored comics for assessment on cyber security topics.

This material is based on research sponsored by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate, Cyber Security Division (DHS S&T/CSD) via contract numbers HSHQDC-14-C-B0019 and HHSP233201600057C. The views and conclusions contained herein are those of the authors and should not be interpreted as necessarily representing the official policies or endorsements, either expressed or implied, of the Department of Homeland Security or the U.S. Government.

Ms. Buchanan is a Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) with over 20 years of experience managing, securing and defending corporate networks, and nearly 10 years working on cyber security R&D projects. Her current R&D portfolio focuses on cybersecurity education and evaluation, understanding and improving cybersecurity decision processes, and cyber mission assurance. She is an active member of NIST’s National Initiative for Cybersecurity Education (NICE) Working Group and is a frequent speaker at cybersecurity conferences and events.

Secure Decisions was created as a division of Applied Visions, Inc., with the intent to develop products related to national security, including network defense, infrastructure protection, cyber security, intelligence analysis, and data visualization. Secure Decisions develops tools for decision-makers to appropriately analyze large amounts of complex data, and to provide cutting-edge security measures to protect their proprietary information. Many of their products were developed under contract from federal and state governments or governmental agencies, including the Department of Homeland Security and DARPA.

June 2, 2017 — Laurin Buchanan, Principal Investigator for cybersecurity education research at Secure Decisions in Northport, NY will be speaking at the L.I. Cybersecurity Conference at Suffolk County Community College (SCCC) on Friday, June 9, 2017. The event is presented Suffolk County Community College, which is launching a Cybersecurity and Information Assurance Associate in Applied Science (A.A.S.) degree program this fall.

The conference’s objective is to offer regional businesses an opportunity to discuss the practical steps needed to protect their companies from identity theft, data breaches and other cyber-related challenges. The conference includes an overview of SCCC’s Cybersecurity and IT programs, vendor displays and networking opportunities. Speakers from Long Island businesses will lead breakout sessions on topics such as IT Security fundamentals, workforce and training needs in the region, and Health IT. Ms. Buchanan will participate in a panel to discuss the skill gaps in Long Island’s IT workforce.

Ms. Buchanan is a Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) with over 20 years’ experience managing, securing and defending corporate networks, most recently at a Fortune 1000 company. Now a cybersecurity researcher at Secure Decisions in Northport, NY, she serves as Principal Investigator on R&D projects focusing on cybersecurity education, modeling and improving the cybersecurity decision processes, and cyber mission assurance. Her prior operational experience informs her research projects, which are currently are funded by the and the National Science Foundation, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Science & Technology Directorate, Cyber Security Division (DHS S&T CSD) and the U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory. She is an active member of NIST’s National Initiative for Cybersecurity Education (NICE) Working Group and is a frequent speaker at cybersecurity conferences and events.

Secure Decisions was created as a division of Applied Visions, Inc., with the intent to develop products related to national security, including network defense, infrastructure protection, cyber security, intelligence analysis, and data visualization. Secure Decisions develops tools for decision-makers to appropriately analyze large amounts of complex data, and to provide cutting-edge security measures to protect their proprietary information. Many of their products were developed under contract from federal and state governments or governmental agencies, including the Department of Homeland Security and DARPA.

According to Cyberseek.org, in November 2016 there were nearly 350,000 open cyber security positions across the USA. “We can’t wait for students to graduate college in 4 to 8 years; we need to find a way to retool our current workforce. We need to provide educators tools to rapidly create curricular materials that can be used for both learning and assessment in diverse environments, and which can be customized for different audiences,” says Laurin Buchanan, Principal Investigator for Comic-BEE.

Comic-BEE aims to help close this education and assessment gap by providing educators and employers a powerful tool to rapidly develop meaningful, targeted lessons that address specific topics in an interactive way. Comic-BEE is a web-based application that integrates the creation of lesson plans for specific instructional goals with the process of creating a choose your own adventure comic — a graphic, branching story where readers make choices on behalf of a character and the story changes based on the choices made. “Stories can be used to explore a wide range of cyber security aspects, such as ethics, privacy, strategy, and the law,” Ms. Buchanan stated. “They also can provide a way for people to gain an understanding of a whole process — say, incident response — or understanding the strategy involved in cyber security decision making, such as understanding the consequences of specific risk management and security design considerations, or when and how to use a scanning tool in stealth mode as part of a penetration testing scenario.”

Comic-BEE requires no programming knowledge or input from graphic artists. The application scaffolds educators through the process of creating a complex, branching storyline that demonstrates a clear cause-and-effect relationship between cyber events and choices, and their real-life consequences. By specifying both the relative quality and expertise of each choice in the story and associating those choices with the learning objectives from their lesson plan, educators and employers can ensure the story addresses the intended instructional goals.

As part of the current effort, Secure Decisions will add a scoring capability that enables the comics to assess learning and skills. Scored comics can support hands-on evaluation of knowledge for a wide range of cyber security topics, and are suitable for use with student learners and the workforce. They can also be used as a game or competition, allowing learners to practice and demonstrate skills in a safe environment, without requiring infrastructure on either end of the connection.

The current effort includes multiple pilots to demonstrate how the comics could be used in various environments. Secure Decisions is seeking partners to author and pilot cyber security educational comics as part of K-12 classroom curriculum, as well as educators and employers interested in creating and using scored comics on cyber security topics.

This material is based on research sponsored by the Department of Homeland Security (DHS) Science and Technology Directorate, Cyber Security Division (DHS S&T/CSD) via contract numbers HSHQDC-14-C-B0019 and HHSP233201600057C. The views and conclusions contained herein are those of the authors and should not be interpreted as necessarily representing the official policies or endorsements, either expressed or implied, of the Department of Homeland Security or the U.S. Government.

About Secure Decisions:

Secure Decisions was created as a division of Applied Visions, Inc. to conduct R&D and develop innovative technologies in cyber security including network defense, infrastructure protection, application security, intelligence analysis, and data visualization. Secure Decisions develops tools for decision-makers to analyze large amounts of complex data, and to provide cutting-edge security measures to protect their proprietary information. Many of their products were developed under contract from federal and state governments or governmental agencies, including the Department of Homeland Security and DARPA. In 2015, Secure Decisions’ application security R&D led to the development of a new application vulnerability correlation and management system, which is now commercially available through a spin-out company called Code Dx, Inc.