Interactive cybersecurity defense training inspired by web-based learning theory

Abstract

As cybersecurity has become a huge problem of today's society, the demand for cybersecurity experts is increasing. Therefore, many researchers and organizations create training environments for professionals to have hands-on activities. However, in most cases, they are created manually and only focus on features, without a pedagogic point of view. This research proposes an interactive training interface aiming to bring a better interaction inspired by the web-based learning theory. Moreover, it runs on top of a system that can setup the training environment automatically and perform unmanned cyber attacks. In this paper, we first define requirements for a modern elearning system for cybersecurity training. We then describe how a defense training system is designed and implemented in this research. After that, a comparison of the implemented interface with the theory of interaction in web-based learning is presented. Based on this theory, a survey is conducted on participants with various cybersecurity background levels to evaluate the effectiveness of the training, and what participants expect from hands-on cybersecurity defense training programs. The time for environment creation is also evaluated.