This content is located in CAPS under Social Implications for Grade 11.

Social engineering tricks are a fascinating and relevant topic for Grade 11 students as they bridge the world of cybersecurity with everyday human behaviour. Understanding these concepts is vital for developing critical thinking skills, fostering awareness of online risks, and protecting personal information.

Social engineering relies on psychological manipulation to trick individuals into divulging confidential information or performing actions that compromise security. By making this topic engaging and interactive, teachers can equip students with the knowledge and skills to recognise and counteract these threats.

Bringing Social Engineering to Life in the Classroom

1. Start with a Hook: The Power of Persuasion Begin the lesson with real-life examples of social engineering scams. For instance:

• Discuss common phishing emails (e.g., fake bank notifications).
• Share a story about someone falling victim to an SMS scam (“Your package is delayed; click here to track it”).
• Illustrate scenarios like fake customer support calls asking for passwords.

Encourage students to identify what made these tricks convincing and how victims could have avoided them.

2. Conduct a Role-Play Activity Split students into pairs or small groups. Assign one student the role of a “social engineer” and the others as “targets.” The “social engineer” must use tactics like pretending to be an IT technician or offering a reward to extract sensitive information (e.g., a fake password).

Afterward, discuss:

• What tricks were used?
• Why were they effective or not?
• How targets could have safeguarded their information.

3. Create a Social Engineering Awareness Poster Have students design posters highlighting:

• Red flags for phishing emails (e.g., grammatical errors, requests for sensitive data).
• Tips to avoid falling for social engineering tricks (e.g., verifying sources, using multifactor authentication).
• The importance of questioning suspicious requests.

Display the posters around the classroom or school for awareness.

4. Simulate a Phishing Email Challenge Using examples of phishing emails, ask students to:

• Identify suspicious elements.
• Rewrite the email to make it safer (e.g., remove sensitive links or correct claims).
• Suggest a response to the email.

Tools like screenshot editing software or printed examples can make this activity hands-on and visual.

5. Explore Real-World Implications Discuss the impact of successful social engineering attacks on individuals, businesses, and governments. Tie this back to topics like:

• Identity theft.
• Financial loss.
• Data breaches.

Link these discussions to recent news stories for added relevance.

6. Use Multimedia to Enhance Engagement Show videos or animations about social engineering techniques like pretexting, baiting, and phishing. Platforms like YouTube have educational cybersecurity content that can visually illustrate these concepts.

7. Foster Critical Thinking with Case Studies Present case studies of social engineering attacks. Challenge students to:

• Identify the techniques used.
• Suggest ways the attack could have been prevented.

For under-resourced environments, provide printed case studies or narrate them orally.

8. Introduce Preventive Measures Emphasise practical ways to protect against social engineering:

• Use strong, unique passwords and change them regularly.
• Enable multi-factor authentication.
• Avoid clicking on unknown links or downloading unverified attachments.
• Always verify the identity of the person requesting sensitive information.

This topic not only aligns with CAPS but also empowers students with life skills for navigating an increasingly interconnected world.