Cyberwarfare Erupts at UC
by Kevin McLaughlin
During winter quarter’s exam week thirty IT students from two Information Security and Privacy classes participated in a day long cyberwarfare event hosted by the College of Applied Science (CAS). Two teams competed, with one defending a test network against the other's attack. The treasure was a store of data. A UC Information Security Officer lead each team. The UC Director of Information Security umpired the game. For more details, please see Cyberwar!
As we increase our reliance on networked computers and communications systems, IT specialists must be able to quickly determine if an information security attack is underway, diagnose the attack, and take appropriate corrective action within the cyber battlespace. As an IT community we currently lack this capability. Further, no training system is available to develop minimal expertise, let alone the deep and broad expertise needed to conduct rapid, effective defensive actions in cyberspace.
Of paramount importance is proper diagnosis of cyberwarfare circumstances as they arise and the rapid, effective selection of defensive techniques when network centric resources are under attack (Stytz and Banks, 2007). The UC CAS cyberwarfare event is a way to train future IT professionals in the art and science of protecting the data they will be trusted to safeguard.
|
