Unveiling shadows: A gamified approach to raise awareness and combat phishing tactics

This paper addresses the growing threat of phishing attacks in the Philippines by developing an engaging educational game designed to enhance information retention and actively engage players in cybersecurity learning. Despite efforts by law enforcement, phishing attacks remain a significant cybersecurity threat in the Philippines, with current preventive measures and awareness campaigns proving insufficient to address evolving cyber threats. The study aims to evaluate the effectiveness of gamification in cybersecurity education through the development and testing of "Unveiling Shadows," a game developed using Unity Game Engine and C# programming language. Using quantitative survey research methodology, the study collected data from 100 participants aged 12 and above through an online survey utilizing a four-point Likert scale to measure learning outcomes and user engagement. Results demonstrated that "Unveiling Shadows" achieved high effectiveness in educating players about phishing tactics, with particularly strong outcomes in password security awareness and understanding the risks of sharing sensitive information online. The findings suggest that cybersecurity educators should consider incorporating gamified learning experiences that simulate real-world scenarios to enhance engagement and knowledge retention. Future research should explore the long-term impact of gamified cybersecurity education on user behavior and investigate the effectiveness of this approach across different demographic groups in the Philippine context.