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Scenario Overview

To assist in the delivery of this initiative; we needed to construct some simple, repeatable and engaging scenario's we can leverage as a medium to teach Children about IT Ops, CyberSecurity and Machine Learning easily and effectively. The way to approach this was through a set of basic scenario's and walkthroughs the children can interact with in the Minecraft world.

Initial Baseline Walkthroughs

Leverage block types to discuss concepts of Network Security and basic 'penetration' of systems:

  • Wooden Blocks: show poorly configured systems and ease of access
  • Stone Blocks: while stronger, still provide minimal 'true' defence from attackers but will fend off basic Malware / Mobs
  • Obsidian: While a strong firewall will prevent the majority of attacks; persistence will still pay off. Workarounds can be found and exploits discovered to get around these controls
  • Bedrock: The 'silver bullet' of IT and Security. While many claim to provide this; there isn't one way to achieve 'true' defence and players in Minecraft will always find a way around

Understanding of Mobs as destructive forces within an IT estate:

  • Zombies can be simple Malware; attacking users who come across it through Phishing, fake downloads, poor browsing behaviour and more
  • Creepers are like IT Operations issues where sudden changes in system performance can have a major impact on the quality and health of the service / player
  • Endermen behave like Command and Control systems; observing and only attacking once co-ordinated and attempted removal

Ransomware is a major issue:

  • Lava can be utilised to deploy and damage major operations and bases in Minecraft worlds with just a few buckets! It doesn't take a lot for Ransomware to compromise a company and cause irreversable harm

Follow Up Scenarios

From these basic principles we can demonstrate general IT concepts to our target audience easily and effectively. From here, we can introduce more nuanced scenarios to further breakdown key concepts of CyberSecurity, IT Ops, Machine Learning and more.

Scripts of these types of scenario's can be found in this section to help create a meaningful dialog and interactive experience