According to a report from McAfee, the global cost of cybercrime for 2020 was over one trillion dollars (Smith, Z. et al., 2020). Cybersecurity breaches and attacks have not only cost businesses and organizations millions of dollars but have also threatened national security and critical infrastructure. Examples include the Ransomware attack in May of 2021 on the largest fuel pipeline in the United States and the February 2021 remote access system breach of a Florida water treatment facility which raised sodium hydroxide to a lethal level. Improving cybersecurity requires a skilled workforce with relevant knowledge and skills. Academic degree programs, boot camps, and various certification programs provide education and training to assist this need. Cyber ranges are a more recent development to provide hands-on skill training. These ranges, often virtual, provide a safe and accessible environment to improve practical skills and experience through hands-on application. They provide a training environment to identify threats, apply countermeasures, and secure data from risks separately from the organization's actual network. More and more academic programs utilize cyber ranges due to the perceived benefit of integrating them into their cybersecurity-related programs. Academic cyber ranges offer virtualized environments that support cybersecurity educators' needs to provide students with a safe, separated, and engaging environment.
The purpose of my research has two components: 1) to understand who the educators are using academic-facing cyber ranges and how they are using them to support their cybersecurity education efforts, and 2) to understand how cybersecurity educators and students are motivated by using them. Specifically, my research is comprised of three manuscripts: (1) a mixed-method exploratory study of who are the educators using cyber ranges for cybersecurity education and how they are using them to create significant cybersecurity learning experiences, (2) a mixed-method study exploring the motivation of educators using a cyber range for cybersecurity education, and (3) a mixed-method study exploring student motivation participating in cybersecurity CTF competitions.
The three manuscripts contribute to understanding cyber ranges in cybersecurity education. The results from my research provided insight from the users of these cyber ranges, cybersecurity educators and students. Results from my first manuscript suggested that high school cybersecurity educators are the primary users. These educators have less formal cybersecurity education and experience compared to cybersecurity educators in higher education. The data also showed that cybersecurity educators primarily used cyber ranges for teaching and learning to meet learning goals and objectives. Results from my second manuscript suggested that educators were motivated mainly by the importance of using a cyber range for cybersecurity education and for the interest-enjoyment their students experience from cyber range usage. Educators found using the cyber range made their class more engaging and relevant to their students.These educators were also confident they could use a cyber range and learn how to use it. However, those without prior experience in cybersecurity or previous experience using a cyber range shared they needed instructor-facing resources, professional development opportunities, and time to learn. Results from my third manuscript suggested that students were motivated by the importance of participating in a cybersecurity CTF competition. Many reported that participating was useful for developing professional skills and readiness. Although CTF competitions were considered difficult and stressful, students did not consider the difficulty pejorative. Many shared that challenging CTFs contributed towards the enjoyment of participating, making them a rewarding and worthwhile experience. However, students also shared that academic and team support contributed towards their confidence in competing. In contrast, those who did not report confidence, stated they lacked a team strategy or support from their academic institution. Additionally, they did not know what to expect to prepare before the competition event. Overall, the results of this dissertation highlight the importance of prior preparation for educators and student CTF participants. For educators, this prior preparation includes curriculum supporting resources such as content mapping to learning objectives and professional development opportunities that do not assume any prior knowledge or experience. For students, prior preparation includes understanding what to expect and recommendations for academic and team support. / Doctor of Philosophy / The technology era has enabled a global connectedness to attend conferences and meetings via our laptop computers while working from home. The proliferation of smart devices has also provided a means to view and communicate with visitors who ring our smart doorbells while we are not home. This interconnected network, i.e., the Internet, has altered how we pay our bills, buy our groceries, and attend classes virtually. It has also enabled cyber attacks and breaches that have contributed to identity thefts, increasing financial costs, business collapses, job losses, and even threatened national security. A cybersecurity workforce has become increasingly vital to address the need for improving cybersecurity. Thus, there is a need for academic cybersecurity programs to prepare future professionals to fill this national workforce shortfall.
Consequently, more and more organizations have integrated cyber ranges as the means to provide a simulated environment for applying and developing cybersecurity-related knowledge and skills. Similar to a driving range for a golfer to practice their golf swing or a shooting range for those in law enforcement to earn their firearms qualifications, a cyber range supports efforts to provide cybersecurity training with hands-on exercises and labs to practice skills in a safe, virtual environment. My research contributes to understanding who uses cyber ranges and how they are motivated to use them for cybersecurity education.
The first purpose of my research was to understand the educators who were using cyber ranges and how they were using them for cybersecurity education. More specifically, I examined their usage for alignment with a learning taxonomy to verify the usage contributed to successful and significant student learning. This understanding contributed to my research's second purpose, which explored how educators were motivated using cyber ranges. The third purpose of my study explored student motivation using a cyber range. Due to varying cyber range resources and activities, my research focused on the cybersecurity competition activity, Capture the Flag (CTF). This study provided an understanding of how students who participated in a cybersecurity CTF competition were motivated.
My research demonstrates that educators and students are interested in using cyber ranges and believe using them for cybersecurity education and professional readiness is important. However, both educators and students who lack prior knowledge or experience using a cyber range or participating in a CTF shared the concern of not knowing what they do not know. PD time and instructor-facing resources that do not assume any prior cybersecurity knowledge were recommended to support educators who did not have a background or experience in cybersecurity. Students shared that although not knowing was stressful and made participating difficult, the difficulty and stress were good attributes because if the CTF were easy, it wouldn't be worth their time and would be less rewarding. Students also reported that team strategies and academic support were motivational aspects of CTF participation. Overall, educators and students were motivated using cyber ranges for cybersecurity education, but professional development and preparation resources would contribute positively to their usage.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:VTETD/oai:vtechworks.lib.vt.edu:10919/109524 |
| Date | 01 April 2022 |
| Creators | Beauchamp, Cheryl Lynn |
| Contributors | Engineering Education, Matusovich, Holly M., Reid, Kenneth J., Katz, Andrew Scott, Raymond, David Richard |
| Publisher | Virginia Tech |
| Source Sets | Virginia Tech Theses and Dissertation |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Dissertation |
| Format | ETD, application/pdf, application/pdf |
| Rights | In Copyright, http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/ |
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