Bridging the Cyber Security Skills Gap: Using Tabletop Exercises to Solve the CSSG Crisis

Angafor, Giddeon N.; Yevseyeva, Iryna; He, Ying

doi:10.1007/978-3-030-61814-8_10

Cited by 10 publications

(18 citation statements)

References 14 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…In their findings, Choudhury (2022) reported that the world was lacking more than 3 million cyber professionals who could provide cyber leadership and train, test, and secure digital systems used by people. Although Drmola et al (2021) and Angafor et al (2020) failed to give the actual figures regarding the shortage of cybersecurity professionals, they concurred with other researchers that the world was facing a massive shortage in computer and cybersecurity specialists.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 62%

Addressing Cybersecurity Challenges in Education

Triplett

2023

ijses

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

This study aimed to address the challenges of cybersecurity in education. As kindergarten through twelfth-grade education shifts to online and remote learning, educators and governments are increasingly vulnerable to the risks of cyberattacks and cybercrimes. This study focused on the strategies that institutions can employ to increase their students’ cybersecurity awareness and simultaneously motivate them to pursue cybersecurity as a career. To achieve the research objectives, a systematic review of ten studies was performed, and the results showed that game-based strategies were effective in increasing students’ awareness about cybersecurity and their interest in pursuing cybersecurity as a career. The study’s implications suggest that game designers and developers may want to develop advanced games that gauge students’ cybersecurity skills and ability to respond to aggressive forms of cyberattacks in addition to enhancing their knowledge of cybersecurity.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 62%

Addressing Cybersecurity Challenges in Education

Triplett

2023

ijses

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Due to technological advances like the internet and mobile connectivity, more people, businesses and governments are increasingly going digital. While this is good for business, it also poses many challenges (Angafor et al , 2020). One such obstacle is the fast-evolving cyber security threat landscape, with attacks on networks and data breaches growing in number and sophistication (Angafor et al , 2020).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…One such obstacle is the fast-evolving cyber security threat landscape, with attacks on networks and data breaches growing in number and sophistication (Angafor et al , 2020). The problem is further compounded by the fact that there is a shortage of experienced personnel with the right skills to defend against incidents resulting from increased connectivity and the continually evolving threat landscape (Angafor et al , 2020). Horne (2014) corroborates this view, maintaining that many industries have a diverse cyber talent deficit.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…This exponential growth and expansion of digital services offerings, according to Tobarra et al (2020) and the lack of skilled cyber security professionals to effectively secure these platforms provide opportunities for threat actors, especially serious organised transnational crime syndicates (Angafor et al , 2020). It enables them to exploit loopholes in business networks, often-breaching customer data, trade and other secrets Angafor et al (2020) and Tobarra et al (2020). One such infringement of international proportion was the 2017 “WannaCry” ransomware attack, which affected over 250,000 computers in more than 150 countries.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Scenario-based incident response training: lessons learnt from conducting an experiential learning virtual incident response tabletop exercise

Angafor

Yevseyeva

Μαγλαράς

2023

ICS

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Purpose This paper aims to discuss the experiences designing and conducting an experiential learning virtual incident response tabletop exercise (VIRTTX) to review a business's security posture as it adapts to remote working because of the Coronavirus 2019 (COVID-19). The pandemic forced businesses to move operations from offices to remote working. Given that this happened quickly for many, some firms had little time to factor in appropriate cyber-hygiene and incident prevention measures, thereby exposing themselves to vulnerabilities such as phishing and other scams. Design/methodology/approach The exercise was designed and facilitated through Microsoft Teams. The approach used included a literature review and an experiential learning method that used scenario-based, active pedagogical strategies such as case studies, simulations, role-playing and discussion-focused techniques to develop and evaluate processes and procedures used in preventing, detecting, mitigating, responding and recovering from cyber incidents. Findings The exercise highlighted the value of using scenario-based exercises in cyber security training. It elaborated that scenario-based incident response (IR) exercises are beneficial because well-crafted and well-executed exercises raise cyber security awareness among managers and IT professionals. Such activities with integrated operational and decision-making components enable businesses to evaluate IR and disaster recovery (DR) procedures, including communication flows, to improve decision-making at strategic levels and enhance the technical skills of cyber security personnel. Practical implications It maintained that the primary implication for practice is that they enhance security awareness through practical experiential, hands-on exercises such as this VIRTTX. These exercises bring together staff from across a business to evaluate existing IR/DR processes to determine if they are fit for purpose, establish existing gaps and identify strategies to prevent future threats, including during challenging circumstances such as the COVID-19 outbreak. Furthermore, the use of TTXs or TTEs for scenario-based incident response exercises was extremely useful for cyber security practice because well-crafted and well-executed exercises have been found to serve as valuable and effective tools for raising cyber security awareness among senior leadership, managers and IT professionals (Ulmanová, 2020). Originality/value This paper underlines the importance of practical, scenario-based cyber-IR training and reports on the experience of conducting a virtual IR/DR tabletop exercise within a large organisation.

show abstract

“…While global Cybercrime damages are predicted to reach $6 Trillion annually by 2021 [5], 61% of companies find most of the cybersecurity applicants unqualified [6]. The majority of chief information security officers around the world are worried about the cybersecurity skills gap, with 58% of CISOs believing the problem of not having an expert cyber staff will worsen [7].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Cyber Ranges and TestBeds for Education, Training, and Research

et al. 2021

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

In recent years, there has been a growing demand for cybersecurity experts, and, according to predictions, this demand will continue to increase. Cyber Ranges can fill this gap by combining hands-on experience with educational courses, and conducting cybersecurity competitions. In this paper, we conduct a systematic survey of ten Cyber Ranges that were developed in the last decade, with a structured interview. The purpose of the interview is to find details about essential components, and especially the tools used to design, create, implement and operate a Cyber Range platform, and to present the findings.

show abstract

Bridging the Cyber Security Skills Gap: Using Tabletop Exercises to Solve the CSSG Crisis

Cited by 10 publications

References 14 publications

Addressing Cybersecurity Challenges in Education

Addressing Cybersecurity Challenges in Education

Scenario-based incident response training: lessons learnt from conducting an experiential learning virtual incident response tabletop exercise

Cyber Ranges and TestBeds for Education, Training, and Research

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About