Traditionally, cyber ranges were large investments that allowed military and commercial organizations an opportunity to identify and assess vulnerabilities by using virtual environments to test their infrastructure and security technologies.
With a traditional cyber range, an organization could study the effectiveness of its cybersecurity technologies and ensure proper configuration and administration. A traditional cyber range, however, did not focus on an organization's last line of defense — the SOC analysts and Incident response PEOPLE.
SOC analysts and incident responders are the last line of defense against a cyber attack, and they require skills and training to understand how to quickly detect and remediate any type of cyber attack. A next generation cyber range generates simulations that teach SOC operators to effectively detect, investigate, and remediate cyber attacks. These modern cyber ranges use a simulated environment to fully prepare SOC analysts for real-world cyber attacks.
What Is a Next-Gen Cyber Range?
Focus on the people in the SOC - A next-gen cyber range replicates an organization's SOC environment – a "virtual SOC." The cyber range is customized to an organization's technical infrastructure, and it may include licensed versions of the same security tools that SOC analysts use every day. Because of this customization, a next-gen cyber range mimics a real-world SOC environment and provides SOC analysts with hands-on training.
Measured details ensure that leadership will know their SOC analyst’s skills have improved and thus, the organization is protected at the last line of defense.
Additionally, a next-gen cyber range includes a dedicated network that can emulate an organization's network. The virtual network environment is injected with traffic to simulate user emails, web-surfing, server communications, and other network operations. This ensures that SOC analysts can see how a real-world cyber attack affects an organization's network operations and plan accordingly.
No more costly infrastructure - Next-gen cyber ranges have come a long way from costly infrastructure like the traditional cyber range of yesterday. Cloud-based access provides organizations with the ability to have consumption-based usage of a customizable cyber range.
Today's next-gen cyber range also allows companies to have a secure environment both to protect production environments as well as use proprietary processes, technology, and design in a virtual environment.
Why Does Your Organization Need a Next-Gen Cyber Range?
Quickly becoming a top option to address the global cybersecurity skills shortage, a next-gen cyber range provides SOC analysts with the skills, training, and experience they need to keep pace with evolving cyber threats.
A next-gen cyber range allows organizations to test vulnerabilities, along with prepare SOC analysts for real-world cyber attacks going far beyond the capabilities of traditional cyber ranges. In doing so, a next-gen cyber range accelerates and improves cyber attack detection, response, and remediation, ultimately addressing the cybersecurity skills shortage.