Exceptional Education at the Heart of the Community

NCSC launches online game to give children a head start with staying cyber safe

NCSC launches online game to give children a head start with staying cyber safe
NCSC launches online game to give children a head start with staying cyber safe

A new online game has been launched to help primary schools, clubs and other youth groups teach children about cyber security from an early age.

CyberSprinters is a free interactive game, developed by the National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC) – a part of GCHQ, aimed at 7 to 11-year-olds, and is available now.

The online game sees players become a ‘cybersprinter’ who is racing against its own depleting battery power. Users can win battery power by correctly answering questions about cyber security but face losing it if they bump into ‘cybervillains’.

The game comes as part of a pack of educational resources which illustrate what good cyber security practice looks like, from creating strong passwords to being vigilant about receiving messages from unknown senders.

Sarah Lyons, NCSC Deputy Director for Economy & Society Engagement, said; “Children are growing up in an increasingly digital world, so it’s really important they learn about online security early on.”

“Our CyberSprinters game offers a fun, free, interactive way for children to understand how to make good choices to protect themselves, their devices and any online accounts. We encourage those working in education to make use of the new resources to help us teach the next generation how to stay safe from cyber threats.”

CyberSprinters is designed to make learning about cyber security fun and interactive at a time when children might begin to seek more independence online.

The resources’ content is based around the expert cyber security advice provided by the cross-governmental Cyber Aware campaign, which helps people protect themselves online from the most common cyber threats.

In addition to the game, the CyberSprinters materials, accessible from the NCSC website, also include educational presentations and activities for children to complete.

The resources support the school curricula across the UK’s four nations by linking in with key learning objectives, and have been developed for use in formal settings such as classrooms as well as in non-formal settings such as by clubs and youth organisations.

More information about top tips to defend against cyber threats can be found at www.cyberaware.gov.uk.

NCSC launches online game to give children a head start with staying cyber safe
Daniel Marsh