The objective of this project is to improve the educational experience of cybersecurity students around the nation by piloting an environment in which they can obtain the valuable hands-on experience in defending digital assets. The proposed system is a remotely accessible isolated lab environment, allowing thousands of students from a wide range of institutions to use this facility to enrich their educational experience. The prototype system has been developed and tested at the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF) and is replicated at the United States Military Academy at West Point (USMA) and a number of other academic institutions.
The proposed system provides a vital component to the study of computer security topics, namely the ability to gain hands-on experience, similar to the experience that biology, chemistry, or geology students gain in their course labs. In addition, the qualitative and quantitative metrics gathered help to inform both the development and delivery methods for new exercises and, in general, the hands-on approach to computer security education.
This project provides access to state-of-the-art computer security lab facilities and materials to a wide range of intuitions, and, consequently, provides substantially more students with empirical learning opportunities in this critically important field. This isolated Remote Access Virtualized Environment (RAVE) is used to help meet the national need for experienced cybersecurity workforce by providing access to these novel educational opportunities for students around the nation.
