Cybersecurity Training Tool SCORPION Introduced for Education
/ 3 min read
Quick take - The article discusses the increasing importance of cybersecurity training in response to rising cyberattacks, highlighting the innovative SCORPION Cyber Range platform, which enhances learning through gamification and adaptive modules, while also addressing challenges in delivering realistic training scenarios and maintaining user motivation.
Fast Facts
- The increasing frequency and sophistication of cyberattacks highlight the urgent need for enhanced cybersecurity training across various sectors, especially in academia and industry.
- SCORPION is an innovative Cyber Range platform that automates the creation and deployment of interactive cybersecurity training scenarios, incorporating gamification to enhance student engagement.
- The platform features an adaptive learning module that personalizes training exercises based on individual performance, utilizing multimodal learning analytics for comprehensive user assessment.
- An evaluation of SCORPION showed high usability (82.10%) and usefulness (4.57/5) scores, indicating its potential as a valuable resource for cybersecurity education.
- Future developments for SCORPION will focus on scalability testing and additional feature integration, with a need for further research to validate its effectiveness in real-world training environments.
The Rising Significance of Cybersecurity Training
The rising significance of cybersecurity training is becoming increasingly apparent in light of a surge in cyberattacks. These attacks are growing in sophistication and are targeting a wide range of economic sectors. This has underscored the necessity for robust security measures across various fields, particularly in academia and industry.
The Role of Cyber Ranges
Cybercrime has emerged as a growing concern, prompting the development of advanced tools for cybersecurity training. Cyber Ranges have become pivotal in developing cybersecurity skills and competencies. SCORPION is introduced as an innovative, fully functional Cyber Range that automates the authoring and deployment of training scenarios. This platform enables educators to craft interactive, cybersecurity-focused topologies and enhances the learning experience by incorporating a gamification system designed to boost student motivation through game-based elements.
A notable feature of SCORPION is its adaptive learning module, which tailors cyber exercises based on individual user performance. The platform employs multimodal learning analytics to collect and analyze user data, including biometric information for stress detection. This provides a comprehensive assessment of user engagement and emotional response during training.
Evaluation and Feedback
An evaluation study of SCORPION revealed a usability score of 82.10% and a usefulness score of 4.57 out of 5. These scores underscore its potential as a valuable resource for cybersecurity education. Participants in the evaluation primarily included students and instructors from the University of Murcia, who provided feedback through a video demonstration and a questionnaire.
Cyber Ranges, as defined by the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), are interactive simulations that replicate an organization’s network and systems. These simulations have gained a diverse user base, including students, military personnel, ICT security professionals, and government employees. However, current Cyber Ranges face challenges in delivering realistic training scenarios and maintaining user motivation.
Future Developments
SCORPION addresses these issues with its scenario authoring tool, which generates random and parameterizable training scenarios tailored to specific needs. The platform’s architecture supports distinct user roles, including students, instructors, and administrators, and features a web-based front-end that utilizes microservices for operational functionality. SCORPION offers various types of cyber exercises, including red team, blue team, collaborative, and social media exercises, managing student training through a cyberexercise module that adapts based on performance metrics.
Future developments for SCORPION are anticipated, including scalability testing and the integration of additional features. The authors recognize the necessity for further research and validation of SCORPION in real-world training environments to ensure its effectiveness and reliability as a cybersecurity training tool.
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