FUN WITH CYBERSECURITY

Crossword puzzles, quizzes, ciphers,

thought questions, writing exercises, and more!

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Hello!

We hope that you’ve enjoyed reading our Cybersecurity Career Guide. It’s full of
a lot of useful information, but here are some important take-aways:

• Cybersecurity is one of the fastest-growing, most important fields of study

and work in America.

• Cybersecurity provides meaning and purpose. Protecting public and

private computer networks can help keep us safe in our online and offline lives.

• Cybersecurity promises reliable, well-paid work. The average starting salary

is over $75,000, and over six million jobs will open up in the next couple of years.

• Cybersecurity offers opportunity for everyone. Because the threats are so

varied, we need people of diverse backgrounds with different kinds of skills to
make our defenses as strong as possible.

Now, let’s see what else you’ve learned! This booklet will provide you with a chance
to test your knowledge with crossword puzzles and quizzes, and also let you try
your hand at code-breaking and ciphers. You’ll finish up with some thought ques-
tions and a cybersecurity-in-action exercise. Have fun!

Robert Black
Publisher, Start Engineering
bblack@start-engineering.com

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Cybersecurity Wordsearch Tip
Some run backwards!

R H R L A V R H R E K T S C G E P L V M
E E I A J L A R C T E S E E E C I M Q Q
W H T V N R A A Y N U R W R L N H I E F
N J V S D S P Q X G T S G C M A S X P I
T Y W W E S O U F I O E M F I R R A I R
A H A M R T T M F Q D K F L F A A M N E
F R Z E E S N I W S Y D T E S E L O T W
E O B G F R C O E A M J Z R E L O O E A
L Y U I N A A T I X R E C A I C H C R L
C D Y R T I A W X T E E E W L Y C Z N L
N V Q I U I T X T F A B C L H T S K E V
A I O B C R K T N F Q R R A O I B J T R
B N F O F M Y Z O B O X T M B R U I O F
U R S V I R U S S P A S U E Q U D A F H
C S G N I H S I H P K D F K N C V F T O
A S C O M M U N I T Y C O L L E G E H X
V I N T E R N S H I P L A J G S P D I U
T O I R T A P R E B Y C P J Z A L D N C
M U E Y D M M F Z G K I E F M G E V G V
U G Z U Y W C X T H I M W N W G G J S P

associates degree Internet of Things PII

certification internship ransomware
community college jackpotting scholarship
CyberPatriot malware security clearance
cyberspace MOOC software
firewall penetration tester stuxnet
hardware phishing virus

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True or False? Test your knowledge!

1. The federal government is the largest employer of cybersecurity professionals.

❏ TRUE or ❏ FALSE

2. The number of devices connected to the Internet is expected to be 1 billion by 2020.

❏ TRUE or ❏ FALSE

3. Most cybersecurity jobs don’t require a 4-year degree.

❏ TRUE or ❏ FALSE

4. To be eligible for a security clearance, you need to steer clear of all drugs, including pot.
❏ TRUE or ❏ FALSE

5. Any device connected to the Internet is vulnerable to cyber attacks.

❏ TRUE or ❏ FALSE

6. The Equifax cyberattack in 2017 compromised the personal data of 50 million people.
❏ TRUE or ❏ FALSE

7. The most important skills for success in a cyber job aren’t necessarily tech-related.
❏ TRUE or ❏ FALSE

8. Cyber professionals work in criminal justice, forensics, business, engineering, and law.
❏ TRUE or ❏ FALSE

9. Community college programs can be the fast track to getting a government security
clearance, an important career credential.
❏ TRUE or ❏ FALSE

10. A container shipping company was hit with a computer virus in 2016 that shut down
operations across the globe.
❏ TRUE or ❏ FALSE

11. The company that hires the most cybersecurity professionals is Cisco.
❏ TRUE or ❏ FALSE

12. Cyber criminals find holes in software, penetrate information systems, and install their
own code.
❏ TRUE or ❏ FALSE

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Crossword Puzzle 1
1 2

Tip
Some of the answers
can be found in the
4 word search!

8 9

10

DOWN
1. Massive open online course
2. The interconnection via the
Internet of computing devices
embedded in everyday objects,
enabling them to send and
receive data
3. Malicious software
6. Award of financial aid for a
student to further his or her
education
9. The position of a student who
works in an organization in order
to gain work experience
ACROSS
4. Two-year degree offered at community colleges
5. Installing software that forces ATMs to spit out
cash
7. Status granted to individuals allowing them access
to classified information or to restricted areas, after
completion of a thorough background check
8. Credential that you earn to show that you have
specific skills or knowledge
10. Targeting email accounts to steal passwords for
bank and credit card accounts

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Crossword Puzzle 2
1
2 3
10
13
DOWN
1. Popular cyber competition
for students
3. Probes for and then exploits
security vulnerabilities in web-
based applications, networks,
and systems
4. Online world of computer net-
works and especially the Internet
5. Schools that offer two-year
degree programs
6. Virus launched on Iran’s nu-
clear facility in 2009
12. A piece of code that is capable
of copying itself and corrupting
the system or destroying data
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5 6
11
12
Tip
Some of the answers
can be found in the
word search!
ACROSS
2. Summer camp run by the National Security Agency
(NSA)
7. Position in a cybersecurity company whereby you
simulate attacks and develop defenses
8. Personally identifiable information
9. Important skill to have for success in cyber jobs
10. Common beginner cybersecurity certification
11. The National Initiative for Cybersecurity Education
13. Programs that lock users out of their own systems
to force payments for getting site and systems back.
Fill in the Blank Test your knowledge!

1. The cost of cybercrime is expected to reach this amount by 2020.

2. This cyber professional examines an IT system just as a medical forensics scientist

examines a dead body.

3. The position of a student who works in an organization, sometimes without pay,

in order to gain work experience.

4. The average starting salary for cyber professionals.

5. Number of cyber jobs that will open up in the next couple of years.

6. Of all the cyber career paths, this one has the most job openings.

7. This cyber professional probes for and looks for weaknesses in your software,
hardware, and networks, and then finds creative ways to protect it.

8. The name for skills-focused credentials for entry-level cybersecurity employment

or preparation for higher education.

9. This cyber professional is responsible for expert review and evaluation of incoming
cybersecurity information to determine its usefulness for intelligence.

10. The company that hires the most cybersecurity professionals.

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Crack the Binary Code
All letters of the alphabet, numbers, and symbols are converted to eight-character binary numbers as you
work with them in software on your computer. The code is made up exclusively with ones and zeros. For ex-
ample, the letter A is represented by the eight character binary number 01000001. Computers transport, cal-
culate, and translate binary numbers because computer hardware circuits only have two electrical states, on
or off. Zero is off, one is on. Use the binary code table below to translate the answers to the following riddles.
Notice a pattern in the table? See if you can fill in the last blanks.

1. What 7-letter word is spelled the same way backwards and forewords?

BINARY TABLE
A 01000001
01010010 01000001 01000011 01000101 01000011 01000001 01010010
B 01000010
2. What travels around the world but stays in one spot? C 01000011
D 01000100
E 01000101
F 01000110
01010011 01010100 01000001 01001101 01010000
G 01000111
3. I have cities, but no houses. I have mountains but no trees. H 01001000
I have water, but no fish. What am I? I 01001001
J 01001010
K 01001011
01001101 01000001 01010000 L 01001100
M 01001101
4. What word does the following? The first two letters signify a man, N 01001110
the first three letters signify a female, the first four letters signify a great
O 01001111
person, while the entire word signifies a great woman. What is the word?
P 01010000
Q 01010001
R 01010010
01001000 01000101 01010010 01001111 01001001 01001110 01000101 S 01010011
T 01010100
5. What gets wet while drying?
U 01010101
V 01010110
W 01010111
01010100 01001111 01010111 01000101 01001100
X

6. The more you take, the more you leave behind. What am I? Y
Z

01000110 01001111 01001111 01010100 01010011 01010100 01000101 01010000 01010011

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Caesar Cipher
A cipher is like a code, a secret or disguised way of writing. To encrypt a mes-
sage—and to decode it—requires following a set of well-defined steps. Another
way of saying this is to say that a cipher is an algorithm for performing encryp-
tion or decryption. (You may have heard the word algorithm associated with on-
line coding and it works in a similar way. See next page for more.)

In cryptography, a Caesar cipher, also known as the shift cipher, is one of the sim-
plest and most widely known encryption techniques. (The method is named after
Julius Caesar, who used it in his private correspondence). It is a type of substitu-
tion cipher in which each letter in the text is replaced by a letter some fixed num-
ber of positions down the alphabet. For example, with a left shift of 3, D would
be replaced by A, E would become B, and so on as shown below:

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V WX Y Z

X Y Z A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U VW

Use the cipher key to decode this phrase, then write your own message.

MXOQV XQ KXQBP ELRPB QLKFDKQ XQ BFDEQ

WRITE YOUR MESSAGE HERE (with translation):

What do you think would be the drawbacks of this kind of cipher?

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Keyword Cipher
The Keyword cipher is identical to the Caesar Cipher with the exception that
the coded alphabet is shifted by using a keyword. To create a substitution al-
phabet from a keyword, you first write down the alphabet. Below this you
write down the keyword (omitting duplicate letters) followed by the remain-
ing unused letters of the alphabet.

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V WX Y Z

K E YWO R D A B C F G H I J L MN P Q S T U V X Z

Create your own keyword cipher using the grid below and then write a secret
message to a friend!

A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V WX Y Z

How would a keyword cipher be more secure than a Caesar cipher? How
would it be less secure?

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Pigpen Cipher
The pigpen cipher (also referred to as the masonic cipher, Napoleon cipher,
and tic-tac-toe cipher) does not substitute one letter for another; rather it
substitutes each letter for a symbol. The alphabet is written in the grids
shown, and then each letter is enciphered by replacing it with a symbol that
corresponds to the portion of the pigpen grid that contains the letter.

A B C J• K
• •
L S W
D E F M• N
•
•O T U X ••• Y
•

G H I
• • •
P Q R V Z

A B C D E F G H I J K L M

A B C D E F G H IJ K L M
N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z

N OP Q R STU V WXYZ
Decode the following message using the pigpen cipher:

POP QUIZ IN MATH CLASS TODAY

Now write your own secret messages!

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Algorithms
What is an algorithm? It’s a complicated-sounding word, but think of it
simply as a series of steps to accomplish a task. You perform algorithms
everyday while washing your hands, making your lunch, or getting to school.
In computer language, an algorithm is a series of steps for a computer program
to accomplish a task. For example, how does Google Maps figure out how to
get to a particular location? They use a route-finding algorithm that computer
scientists wrote. This algorithm is more complicated than the one you use to
wash your hands, obviously, but it’s still a series of steps. So what makes a
good algorithm? It should both solve the problem and do so efficiently.

Now it’s your turn. Write down the steps below for a seemingly simple task,
like washing your hands or tying your shoes. You may be suprised how many
steps it takes!

STEP 1

STEP 2

STEP 3

STEP 4

STEP 5

STEP 6

STEP 7

STEP 8

STEP 9

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Things to Think About

Which article of the book did you find most interesting and why?

Which educational path seems right for you and why?

In which cyber pathway could you see yourself working and why?

What kind of workplace (working for the government or for private sector) is
appealing to you and why?

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Cybersecurity in Action

Pick out 3 scenarios from the front part of the book, “What Is Cybersecurity?”,
and answer the following questions. These questions can be answered as
individual work or, even better, as part of a group exercise.

1. Who do you think is carrying out the cyber attack being described?
A government? Individuals? Groups of criminals? Military? Companies?
A combination of actors? Who else?

2. Who or what is the target of the attack?

3. What is the goal of the attacker(s)? What are they trying to accomplish?

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Cybersecurity in Action (continued)

4. Why did the attacker(s) pick that particular target?

5. What is the worst-case result of the attack, if completely successful?

6. What kinds of prevention measures can you imagine? Think about what
behaviors people can change, technologies that might be useful, laws that
might be made, and other possible responses.

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Cybersecurity in Action (continued)

7. What kind of response would be required to recover from the attack?

Money? New behaviors? New technologies? What else?

8. Rank the attacks in order of seriousness or threat. Think about how many
people are affected, what damage might result and to whom, what kinds
of effort and money it might take to recover from the attack, and other
possible criteria for assessing the threat level.

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Cybersecurity in Action (continued)

9. Pick out one attack scenario and imagine you are the leader of the country,
company, or group under attack. You need to make a speech to your follow-
ers, explaining the attack, how and why it happened, what the damage
has been, and how you’re going to prevent attacks from happening in the
future. What will you say to your audience? Make an outline or set of bullet
points addressing these questions and present to your class.

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Cybersecurity in Action (continued)

10. For each scenario, have there been more recent cyber attacks in that field,
either in the United States or overseas? If so, what happened?

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