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

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Author
Ukwandu, Elochukwu
Mohamed, Amine Ben-Farah
Hanan, Hindy
David, Brosset
Dimitris, Kavallieros
Robert, Atkinson
Christos, Tachtatzis
Miroslav, Bures
Ivan, Andonovic
Xavier, Bellekens
Date
2020-12-13Acceptance date
2020-12-05
Type
Article
Publisher
MDPI
Metadata
Show full item recordAbstract
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 CR and TB 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 CR and TB 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.
Journal/conference proceeding
Sensors;
Citation
Ukwandu, E., Farah, M.A.B., Hindy, H., Brosset, D., Kavallieros, D., Atkinson, R., Tachtatzis, C., Bures, M., Andonovic, I. and Bellekens, X. (2020) 'A Review of Cyber-Ranges and Test-Beds: Current and Future Trends', Sensors, 20(24), 7148; https://doi.org/10.3390/s20247148
Description
Article published in Sensors, available open access at https://doi.org/10.3390/s20247148
Sponsorship
Horizon 2020 (Grant ID: H2020 FORESIGHT)
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