First International Social Engineering Elective in collaboration with Cameroon
On 18th December, we successfully closed the first iteration of our “Social Engineering” Course in collaboration with SwissLink University of Cameroon. We were delighted to look back on our 6-week learning journey, where we had both a great learning about the topic of social engineering and a highly valuable intercultural exchange.
Our joint closing session started out with a welcome by Dr. Carlson – the Head of SwissLink University. He thanked the lecturer team from the Competence Center Digital Trust for offering the joint course and expressed his strong interest in intensifying the collaboration in the future.
Following, Hermann Grieder conducted summarized the key aspects of social engineering. A highly relevant concept was the Social Engineering Kill Chain that depicts the steps of social engineering attack from the first investigation until termination.
A special topic in the intercultural context was Mobile Money Fraud, which is a high risk in Cameroon. The Swiss students could learn this new topic from their Cameroonian peers.
Franka Ebai took over by summarizing the main lessons learned thanks to the cultural interaction between Switzerland and Cameroon. We all got the chance to build cross-cultural competencies, we gained new perspectives, and we could expand our network. In particular we all learned being patient with each other and how to build and conduct mentoring sessions in a fully virtual environment.
Awarding the Cameroonian students with a certificate upon successful course completing was at the core of the joint session. Overall, Bettina Schneider called upon 21 students from Cameroon who got a certificate of attendance. The SwissLink students appreciated the certificate and provided us with some summary feedback.
As an example, Kouti Divine thanked their Swiss mentors and expressed that she loved the joint sessions, and pointed out that she learned the social engineering kill chain. Furthermore, Dzeben Ngalim Arnold expressed his gratitude to his Swiss mentors. He was especially appreciating the contents on improving the cyber hygiene. He confirmed that he appreciated the exchange on mobile money.
In concluding remarks, Bettina Schneider and Dr. Carlson extended their thanks to SwissLink University teachers and the dean of studies, while also extending warm wishes for a festive holiday season.