KS3 Computer Science Year 9: Cybersecurity – 6 lessons

6 ready-to-teach KS3 Computer Science lessons for Year 9: Cybersecurity. Editable slides, lesson plans, worksheets and full answers.

Threats and defences in the language of the IGCSE mark scheme, ending with how encryption works.

What’s included

• 6 PowerPoint lessons, one per lesson, with photos, click-by-click activities and speaker notes
• Lesson plan pack (Word): objectives and a timed 50-minute plan for every lesson, plus teacher notes
• 6 student worksheets (Word), ready to print or edit
• Answer pack (Word) with answers for every worksheet section

Lessons

1. Why systems are attacked
2. Malware: viruses, worms, trojans, ransomware, spyware
3. Phishing, pharming and social engineering
4. Defences: firewalls, strong passwords, 2FA, updates
5. Encryption: Caesar cipher to symmetric and asymmetric
6. Case study: investigate a real breach (assessed)

Key vocabulary

malware, phishing, pharming, firewall, encryption, public key

Assessment

Breach case study (L6).

Format

• PowerPoint (.pptx) and Word (.docx), fully editable
• Works in PowerPoint and Google Slides (some animations may look different in Google Slides)
• Written for the English national curriculum for KS3 computing, and builds towards GCSE / IGCSE Computer Science

Photos are from Wikimedia Commons under free licences and are credited on each slide and in LICENSES.txt.