Shaping Secure Habits at NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory
National Cybersecurity Awareness Month
October is National Cybersecurity Awareness Month, and each year, I was charged as the Senior Lead of Communications & Change Management to develop a creative, company-wide campaign for NASA’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL), to emphasize the importance of practicing good cyber hygiene. My approach blends education with engagement, using storytelling, humor, games, and interactive content to make technical topics feel personal and approachable.
In 2022, I launched a fully immersive campaign with themed content, short videos, real-world stories, and interactive events. These have since inspired NASA Headquarters and other institutions.
The goal each year is to spark curiosity, inspire proactive behavior, and ensure that cybersecurity awareness isn’t just a checklist, but embedded into the JPL culture. Through immersive storytelling and playful competition, NASA’s JPL is made a safer, more informed place.
Below you will see features from various campaigns through the years.
Guardians of the Rover Scavenger Hunt
Save the Rover. Save the Galaxy.
Gamification is an extremely powerful tool that can help boost engagement and also make critical lessons stick. For Cybersecurity Awareness Month, my team brought this philosophy to life with “Guardians of the Rover,” an interactive scavenger hunt designed to turn cybersecurity education into an adventure.
The game began when users scanned a QR code on a table tent and were directed to an internal website that introduced the mission: help protect the Perseverance Rover from an alien cyberattack. From there, participants followed a trail of movie-themed clues that led them to posters hidden across campus, each featuring another QR code and a mini quiz tied to cybersecurity best practices.
Each correct answer unlocked the next location, leading players deeper into the game. The final clue brought them to the Cybersecurity team’s office, where successful participants were awarded a sticker and a certificate of completion signed by the CISO, earning their title as a true Guardian of the Rover.
My Key Roles: Game & Story Development | Graphics | Website & Poster Copywriting & Design | Campaign Promotion
Step Into The Cyber Zone
Tales from the Trenches
During this cyber awareness campaign, I collected real cybersecurity stories from the JPL community that included personal accounts of phishing attempts, identity theft, and data loss. These stories became the backbone of The Cyber Zone: Tales from the Trenches, a Twilight Zone-inspired video series that brought these cautionary tales to life.
Using only the voice talents of my small team, along with custom graphics, stock video, and carefully layered sound design, I produced a collection of short videos that were both informative and entertaining.
The Cyber Zone quickly became a campaign highlight, driving strong engagement across our enterprise Slack platform and reinforcing key cybersecurity behaviors through storytelling.
Speaker Series
In collaboration with JPL’s cybersecurity leads, my team supported and promoted a series of themed events that offered employees an inside look at the evolving threats and challenges facing the JPL’s cybersecurity teams.
Each event was designed to be both educational and empowering, highlighting real-world cyber incidents, response strategies, and practical steps users can take to safeguard data and systems. Topics ranged from advanced phishing tactics to proper data classification and secure sharing practices.
Through engaging speakers and behind-the-scenes insights, we reinforced the message that cybersecurity is a shared responsibility and that everyday users play a vital role in keeping JPL secure.