A Case Study-based Cybersecurity Ethics Curriculum

This paper describes the rationale for and implementation of an experimental graduate-level cybersecurity ethics course curriculum recently piloted at the at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. This case study based ethics curriculum immerses students in real life ethical dilemmas within cybersecurity and engages in open dialogue and debate within a community of ethical practice. We uphold the importance of preparing students for a future that is truly unknown and uncertain and note that this requires a push beyond some established curricular guidelines for cybersecurity that underlie a rule and compliance-based approach to ethics education. Details of the course layout are offered as well as results from a student-evaluation survey.