The world of cyber security is constantly expanding; therefore, there will be new concepts and tools born every day. The aim is to deal with the evolving threats of cyber attacks. They also help protect online systems.
The term “cyber range” is pretty new in the industry. Its original application is mainly for the public sector. Yet, the term has become much more popular because the tool’s capacity has expanded beyond its initial roots.
So, what is a cyber range? How can this tool benefit professionals? I will answer all your questions in this post. Keep reading to find out!
What is a Cyber Range?
A cyber range is an environment used for training cybersecurity tasks. It serves as a secure and realistic platform for everyone to develop their skills.
The industry has developed this environment for training purposes. A standard range consists of two primary parts. They include a virtual lab and a layer. It also involves networks to create a realistic situation.
In this range, professionals can learn to tackle attacks using their available resources. It will create dangerous attacks on virtual systems. Some examples are software, apps, and networks.
Modern cyber ranges can create all sorts of virtual situations. Besides training, they also serve some essential purposes like
- Testing new tools and ideas
- Help new employees get familiar with their jobs
- Introduce new apps or systems
- Test the capacity of a system
The ranges can also create attacks on different difficulty levels. Thus, professionals and college students can benefit from this tool.
By training in this environment, professionals can gain more experience. They will develop their skills in solving realistic threats. Thus, they can react to emergency attacks better in the future.
Drivers of Cyber Range
There are various drivers for the development of this tool. Firstly, the traditional classroom environment doesn’t bring high training results. It doesn’t provide practical problems for learners to solve.
Meanwhile, it’s too risky to use real systems for training. Just a small error can cause severe damage to the system. Therefore, cyber ranges are created to reduce this risk.
Lastly, professionals don’t have a lot of chances to train their skills. Thus, this environment can prepare them better for the events.
Examples of Cyber Ranges
Many organizations are building this tool for different purposes. Most of them are colleges and training institutions. Many companies also include this tool in their training programs.
Here are some famous examples of this tool
- Intelligence: This tool serves as an environment for employees to train their skills. They will solve various attacks in the range to develop their capacity.
- Education: This tool is prevalent in many universities. It serves as a training tool to teach students new concepts and skills.
- Commer: This range helps test new products and ideas, such as networks. The goal is to check the stability of a system against attacks.
Some Benefits of Using a Cyber Range
Today, it’s impossible to solve all the security threats in the modern world because systems are always prone to attacks.
For this reason, the role of cyber ranges in the industry is getting bigger. Here are some significant benefits of using this tool.
1. Improve Communication
The nature of this tool involves teamwork between the participants. The individuals must learn to work together to achieve the best outcomes. Thus, it helps bring together the teams within the environment.
For this reason, it will help the learners enhance their communication skills. Also, this environment will build a team spirit. This factor is very critical for large organizations to operate smoothly.
2. It Helps Reduce The Cost
Using this tool is much cheaper than using a real platform. It also reduces the risks of damaging the system. Another benefit lies in the tool’s high flexibility. You can freely adjust its features to suit your training needs.
3. It Gives Better Training Results
The participants can gain more experience from solving real threats. Traditional classrooms simply cannot offer this real nature.
Also, participants can freely use all the resources they have. This environment brings higher control and freedom for learners. Thus, it helps enhance their creativity and independence.
4. It’s Effective for Skill Development
These environments are very popular with high availability. You can access these tools from anywhere. So, it encourages people to learn and develop their skills.
5. Testing
This tool has more room for growth than training purposes. Companies can use it to test different ideas and products.
It helps them identify potential setbacks and errors. Thus, they can make the products more complete before introducing them.
Who Can Benefit from Cyber Range?
The potential of this tool is endless. Almost all individuals working in the industry can benefit from it. Here are a few examples.
Professionals
Experts from diverse groups can use this tool to improve their knowledge and skills. Thus, they can increase their work performance and get higher rewards.
Students
They serve as an environment for practicing and experimenting. Students can solve real threats and develop their capacity.
Educators
This tool assists educators in teaching concepts and training students’ skills. The teachers can freely adjust the environment to suit their educational style.
Organizations
Companies can use this tool to test their product and system. They can also train their employees and enhance teamwork. This tool also helps companies identify talented employees with a high potential for growth.
How to Choose a Cyber Range?
Not all ranges share similar functions and features. You can find a lot of tools and resources available in this environment. They range from small networks to complex web services.
Therefore, it takes a lot of effort to set up a suitable tool for your needs. Sometimes complex ranges won’t deliver the best result. It must be able to create a realistic problem that suits your current profession.
The Future Of Cyber Ranges
Cyber threats are getting more complicated to deal with. Both companies and the government are struggling against these threats.
Therefore, this environment is an essential tool to tackle this problem. It has a lot of potential for development in the upcoming years. The industry is also putting a lot of resources into expanding the cyber range’s capacity.
Final Thoughts
A cyber range is a virtual environment where professionals and students can train with cyber threats. It also helps organizations test new product ideas.
This environment has proven its capacity in developing the industry’s standard. It will get even more popular in the upcoming years.
I hope this post has brought you clear insights into cyber ranges. Thank you for reading!