Sustained Digital Defense and Literacy

This capstone unit consolidates defensive strategies, media literacy, and practical training developed earlier in the pathway to promote lasting vigilance. Students learn to apply technical protections, teach family and community members, design hands-on training activities, and maintain ongoing awareness through curated information sources.

Learning Objectives

• Analyze common cyber threats by identifying and ranking at least five attack methods (e.g., phishing, malware, social engineering, account takeover, AI-enabled scams) for likelihood and potential impact on personal and family digital environments.
• Apply technical and behavioral defenses by configuring and documenting at least three protective measures (e.g., multi-factor authentication, password manager, secure device and browser settings, basic antivirus/firewall) on a representative device and producing a concise family guide titled ‘Keeping It Real in the Age of AI.’
• Demonstrate proactive training techniques by designing and facilitating two interactive exercises or games that teach mental and digital defense skills and measuring participant learning with defined assessment criteria.
• Evaluate information credibility and lifelong learning strategies by compiling a curated list of at least five reliable digital information sources and three recommended books, and by creating a one-month plan to stay current with emerging threats and security best practices.