Teaching cybersecurity to computer science students utilizing terminal sessions recording software as a pedagogical tool

Abstract

This Innovate Practice Full Paper presents our experience with teaching a cybersecurity course to undergraduate students utilizing terminal sessions recording software as a pedagogical tool.Developing a practical cybersecurity course demands numerous amount of preparation and the deployment of various security tools. One of the significant benefits of providing hands-on assignments is the opportunity for students to practice and experiment with tools similar to the ones used by both the professionals and malicious actors.This paper presents an innovative approach to conducting interactive demonstrations in the classroom and as a supplement to the weekly practical assignments. By combining two simple open-source software, we managed to create several short tutorials on how to use various command-line security tools. The educational tool was deployed in an undergraduate cybersecurity class, and the results from the anonymous online survey were overwhelmingly positive. Furthermore, the participants responded that the demos improved their understanding of the subject content and enabled them to learn the material effectively.