The Badge Archive

Fulfills Step 1 of GSUSA Senior Cybersecurity Basics badge requirements.

Info Needed for the badge requirements: Process isolation helps protect your computer by keeping malware separate from other programs, so it can’t access your data. Domain separation keeps different groups, like user accounts or programs, separate. This helps organize information and decide what is relevant for each group.

Items Needed

• Stopwatch or clock with a second hand

Instructions

Part 1: Learn About Process Isolation (10 minutes)

1. Thumb War and Rock-Paper-Scissors Game:
   • Make sure scouts know how to play “Rock-Paper-Scissors” and how to have a thumb war. Quickly explain the rules if needed.
     • Rock-Paper-Scissors: Two players make hand gestures (rock, paper, scissors). Rock beats scissors, scissors beat paper, and paper beats rock.
     • Thumb War: Two players link hands, and the goal is to pin the other player’s thumb.
   • Divide scouts into pairs and explain:
     • Use your right hand to play a thumb war.
     • Use your left hand to play Rock-Paper-Scissors at the same time.
   • Start the game for about 2 minutes, then stop and gather back as a group.
2. Alphabet and Counting Game:
   • Time the scouts using a stopwatch or clock as they complete these tasks:
     • Round 1: As a group, take turns saying the alphabet (one letter per scout) and then counting by 3s to 36 (one number per scout).
     • Round 2: Scouts start saying the alphabet, but whenever you yell “Switch,” they switch to counting by 3s. When you yell “Switch” again, they go back to the alphabet.
   • Compare how long it took to complete each round.
3. Discuss Multitasking:
   • Ask the scouts:
     • Why was the second round harder than the first?
     • Did you have trouble focusing? Why?
     • How do you handle multitasking in real life (e.g., watching TV, doing homework, and talking to a friend)?
     • What would you do if you couldn’t focus on everything at once?
4. Learn About Process Isolation:
   • Share these key points:
     • Our brains can’t truly multitask. When we try, we switch focus quickly between tasks, which slows us down.
     • Computers face a similar challenge. Each program running on a computer is called a process.
     • Process isolation keeps processes separate in their own memory space, so they don’t interfere with each other.
5. Wrap Up the Discussion:
   • Ask: Have you ever had a computer slow down? Why do you think this happens?
     • Possible answers: Too many tabs open, downloading something, etc.
   • Explain:
     • Computers can slow down when too many processes are running, or if malware infects the system and takes up memory.
     • Process isolation helps protect your computer by keeping malware separate from other programs, so it can’t access your data.

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Part 2: Learn About Domain Separation (10 minutes)

1. Group Activity:
   • Ask scouts to form groups based on the season they were born in (winter, spring, summer, fall).
2. Explain Domain Separation:
   • Share these key points:
     • You just grouped yourselves by something you have in common—your birthday.
     • This is similar to domain separation in cybersecurity.
     • Domain separation keeps different groups, like user accounts or programs, separate. This helps organize information and decide what is relevant for each group.
     • Example: On a school network, you might separate user accounts into “students,” “teachers,” and “principal.”
3. Discussion:
   • Ask scouts:
     • What information might teachers need to see that students don’t?
       • Possible answers: Teachers might see all students’ grades, while students only see their own grades. Principals might need to see all grades.
     • Can you think of other examples where keeping groups separate is important?
       • Possible answers: Scouts at different levels only completing their level-specific badges; city, county, and state governments managing different responsibilities.
4. Wrap Up:
   • Encourage scouts to think about how process isolation and domain separation protect both computers and their own digital devices.