Cyber ranges and security testbeds: Scenarios, functions, tools and architecture

Cyber situational awareness has been proven to be of value in forming a comprehensive understanding of threats and vulnerabilities within organisations, as the degree of exposure is governed by the prevailing levels of cyber-hygiene and established processes. A more accurate assessment of the security provision informs on the most vulnerable environments that necessitate more diligent management. The rapid proliferation in the automation of cyber-attacks is reducing the gap between information and operational technologies and the need to review the current levels of robustness against new sophisticated cyber-attacks, trends, technologies and mitigation countermeasures has become pressing. A deeper characterisation is also the basis with which to predict future vulnerabilities in turn guiding the most appropriate deployment technologies. Thus, refreshing established practices and the scope of the training to support the decision making of users and operators. The foundation of the training provision is the use of Cyber-Ranges (CRs) and Test-Beds (TBs), platforms/tools that help inculcate a deeper understanding of the evolution of an attack and the methodology to deploy the most impactful countermeasures to arrest breaches. In this paper, an evaluation of documented CRs and TBs platforms is evaluated. CRs and TBs are segmented by type, technology, threat scenarios, applications and the scope of attainable training. To enrich the analysis of documented CRs and TBs research and cap the study, a taxonomy is developed to provide a broader comprehension of the future of CRs and TBs. The taxonomy elaborates on the CRs/TBs dimensions, as well as, highlighting a diminishing differentiation between application areas.

Section: Related Workmentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Scenarios and Applicationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Review of Cyber-Ranges and Test-Beds: Current and Future Trends

Ukwandu

Farah

Hindy

et al. 2020

“…There are varying definitions of what constitutes a cyber range. Yamin et al in [ 6 ] define a cyber range as an environment providing testbeds for research and conducting training through programs. Alternatively, Kavallieratos et al in [ 7 ] describe a cyber range as an interactive, simulated representations of an organization’s local technical infrastructure connected to a simulated Internet.…”

Section: Related Workmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The suitability of each option depends on the wider context on which the cyber range is being built. Yamin et al [ 6 ] also argue that there are 6 aspects that are needed for a cyber range to be considered fully functioning and effective. These are monitoring capabilities, learning, management, teaming, the environment, and scenarios.…”

Section: Related Workmentioning

confidence: 99%

Addressing the Security Gap in IoT: Towards an IoT Cyber Range

Nock

Starkey

Angelopoulos

2020

The paradigm of Internet of Things has now reached a maturity level where the pertinent research goal is the successful application of IoT technologies in systems of high technological readiness level. However, while basic aspects of IoT connectivity and networking have been well studied and adequately addressed, this has not been the case for cyber security aspects of IoT. This is nicely demonstrated by the number of IoT testbeds focusing on networking aspects and the lack of IoT testbeds focusing on security aspects. Towards addressing the existing and growing skills-shortage in IoT cyber security, we present an IoT Cyber Range (IoT-CR); an IoT testbed designed for research and training in IoT security. The IoT-CR allows the user to specify and work on customisable IoT networks, both virtual and physical, and supports the concurrent execution of multiple scenarios in a scalable way following a modular architecture. We first provide an overview of existing, state of the art IoT testbeds and cyber security related initiatives. We then present the design and architecture of the IoT Cyber Range, also detailing the corresponding RESTful APIs that help de-associate the IoT-CR tiers and obfuscate underlying complexities. The design is focused around the end-user and is based on the four design principles for Cyber Range development discussed in the introduction. Finally, we demonstrate the use of the facility via a red/blue team scenario involving a variant of man-in-the-middle attack using IoT devices. Future work includes the use of the IoT-CR by cohorts of trainees in order to evaluate the effectiveness of specific scenarios in acquiring IoT-related cyber-security knowledge and skills, as well as the IoT-CR integration with a pan-European cyber-security competence network.

“…In case of IoT such endeavors are possible but due the the ever expanding IoT landscape achieving such thing would be very difficult and financially not feasible, as reconstructing a digital replica of a smart city with physical devices for forensic investigation is not piratical. Cyber ranges [ 21 ] can have a valid use case in this domain for creating the digital twin of the crime scene for crime event reconstruction.…”

Section: Police Needsmentioning

confidence: 99%

UIOT-FMT: A Universal Format for Collection and Aggregation of Data from Smart Devices

Seljeseth

Yamin

Katt

2020

Self Cite

Information Technology (IT) has become an essential part of our lives and due to the emergence of the Internet-of-Things (IoT), technology has encompassed a majority of things that humans rely on in their daily lives. Furthermore, as IT becomes more relevant in daily lives, the need for IT to serve public emergency services has become more important. However, due to the infancy status of IoT, there is a need for a data consortium that would prove to be best used in servicing policing in a technological driven society. This paper will discuss the plausibility of creating a universal format for use in carrying out public services, such as emergency response by the police and regular law maintenance. In this research we will discuss what the police requires in their line-of-duty and how smart devices can be used to satisfy those needs. A data formatting framework is developed and demonstrated, with the goal of showing what can be done to unifying data from smart city sensors.