The Badge Archive

• Fulfills Step 4 and 5 of GSUSA Brownie Cybersecurity Investigator badge requirements.
• Leaders – please be aware of double dipping and make your own informed choice.

Info Needed for badge requirements: Computer Viruses enter your system’s code and take resources in order to replicate, causing performance issues. It can slow a computer down, corrupt or delete files, crash programs and systems, keep your hard drive spinning, glitch apps and programs, create pop-ups and ads, or steal your data.

There are six basic viruses:

• Direct Action – attach to a file and cause chaos then delete themselves.
• Boot Sector – attach to hardware (like USB drives or CDs) and attack the boot sectors (which load your operating system when you turn it on)
• Resident – has multiple entry ways, but always attacks the RAM (your computer memory)
• Multipartite – also has multiple entry ways, and attacks your files AND your boot sector.
• Polymorphic – this one changes shape by replicating slightly different each time.
• Macro – attach word document files and attack when you enable macros when you open the file.

There are four basic ways to prevent a Computer Virus:

• User Safety – Computer users need to be aware. Do not ignore warning signs online or in emails. Do not use untrusty files, programs, or hardware. Only download apps or software from trusted developers.
• Avoid Ads – Don’t click on ads or pop-ups. Do a separate internet search if you are interested.
• Updates – Keep your operating system, programs, and apps updated.
• Anti-Virus Software – They can detect threats and catch viruses before they infect your system.

Items Needed

• 2 spoons
• 2 ping-pong balls
• Slips of paper (one per scout; all say “NOT SICK” except one, which says “YOU ARE SICK!”)
• Bowl for slips of paper
• Music player (optional)

Instructions

Game 1: Virus Spread Simulation

1. Place the slips of paper in the bowl and have each scout pick one. Tell scouts not to show their paper to anyone else.
2. Scouts walk around the room shaking hands with each other. Play music if you have a player, and stop after one minute.
3. After the music stops, the scout with the “YOU ARE SICK!” slip raises their hand.
4. That scout shares who they shook hands with. Those scouts are now “infected” and raise their hands.
5. Explain how this simulates a computer virus spreading from one device to another through direct contact.

Game 2: Relay Race Simulation

1. Divide scouts into two teams. Line them up facing the same direction.
2. Give the first scout on each team a spoon with a ping-pong ball balanced on it.
3. Scouts race to the other end of the room and back, keeping the ping-pong ball on their spoon. If a scout drops the ball, they become “sick” and must finish their turn walking backward.
4. Once back in line, the ball is passed to the next scout using only the spoon.
5. Continue until every scout has had a turn. If teams are uneven, one scout can go twice to balance the number of turns.
6. Time how fast each team finishes the race.

Discussion and Reflection

• Talk about how dropping the ball (becoming “sick”) slowed them down, similar to how a computer slows down when infected with malware.
• Discuss ways to prevent spreading germs (e.g., washing hands, covering coughs) and compare this to protecting computers (e.g., using antivirus programs and avoiding unknown links).