Book Review: Teaching Cybersecurity: A Handbook for Teaching the Cybersecurity Body of Knowledge in a Conventional Classroom 

Teaching Cybersecurity: A Handbook for Teaching the Cybersecurity Body of Knowledge in a Conventional Classroom. By Daniel Shoemaker, Ken Sigler, and Tamara Shoemaker. Routledge. 228 pages; $46.95.

In 2018, the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) and the IEEE Computer Society (IEEE-CS) announced the publication of the Curriculum Guidelines for Post-Secondary Degree Programs in Cybersecurity (CSEC2017). The guidelines were developed under the leadership of the Joint Task Force on Cybersecurity Education and with the contributions of educators, industry professionals, and government representatives from around the globe.  

CSEC2017 includes four components: an overview of the cybersecurity discipline to frame the curricular model, a presentation of the curricular framework and outline of the recommended curricular content, a highlight of industry perspectives on cybersecurity, and a discussion of issues related to the educational practice, suggestion for a process to develop roadmaps that link the curricular model to workforce frameworks, and references that highlight how global institutions could implement the curricular guidelines. 

In Teaching Cybersecurity: A Handbook for Teaching the Cybersecurity Body of Knowledge in a Conventional Classroom, authors Daniel Shoemaker, Ken Sigler, and Tamara Shoemaker have written a book that is a tremendous resource for those tasked with implementing CSEC2017.  

Many who are required to implement CSEC2017 are elementary school and high school teachers who often don’t have a background in information technology or cybersecurity yet are tasked with incorporating it into their lesson plans. This book is meant for that population.  

Written in a jargon-free and easy-to-read style, Teaching Cybersecurity gives the reader a good understanding of the eight domains of the common body of knowledge (CBK): data security, software security, component security, connection security, system security, human security, organizational security, and societal security. 

Each chapter is a self-contained explanation of the CKB topic and can be used to teach the topic to elementary, middle, and high school students. The chapters also include exercises to facilitate meaningful discussions and insights about the topic. 

Albert Einstein is quoted as saying, “If you can’t explain it simply, you don’t understand it well enough.” While information security can be quite intimidating, Teaching Cybersecurity is a helpful guide to help you understand the topic so that it can be taught well.  

Reviewer: Ben Rothke, CISSP, CISM, CISA, is a New York City-based senior information security manager with Tapad who has more than 20 years of industry experience in information systems security and privacy. His areas of expertise are risk management and mitigation, security and privacy regulatory issues, design and implementation of systems security, encryption, cryptography, and security policy development. Rothke wrote Computer Security—20 Things Every Employee Should Know.