A Comparative Study of Online Cybersecurity Training Platforms | SpringerLink
Skip to main content

A Comparative Study of Online Cybersecurity Training Platforms

  • Conference paper
  • First Online:
Verification and Evaluation of Computer and Communication Systems (VECoS 2023)

Abstract

With the rapidly growing number of cybersecurity training solutions, new opportunities have been introduced for real-world simulated cyber threats to be accessible. It has improved the participant’s ability to detect and respond in a timely and effective manner. These platforms vary in technical details. However, all have one common objective to improve cybersecurity understanding and awareness. This paper presents and surveys the ten most popular commercial and open-source cybersecurity training platforms for online learning based on practical training. In addition, a comparative analysis and discussion of platform-specific features based on a proposed software taxonomy that aids in the classification is presented. The findings of this study can be useful to both developers and contributors of cybersecurity training platforms for further improvements or to develop new ones.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Subscribe and save

Springer+ Basic
¥17,985 /Month
  • Get 10 units per month
  • Download Article/Chapter or eBook
  • 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
  • Cancel anytime
Subscribe now

Buy Now

Chapter
JPY 3498
Price includes VAT (Japan)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
JPY 5719
Price includes VAT (Japan)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
JPY 7149
Price includes VAT (Japan)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  1. Cabaj, K., Kotulski, Z., Ksiezopolski, B., Mazurczyk, W.: Cybersecurity: trends, issues, and challenges. EURASIP J. Inf. Secur. (2018). https://doi.org/10.1186/s13635-018-0080-0

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. Maleh, Y., Maleh, Y.: Understanding cybersecurity standards. In: Maleh, Y., Maleh, Y. (eds.) Cybersecurity in Morocco. SpringerBriefs in Cybersecurity, pp. 13–27. Springer, Cham (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-18475-8_2

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  3. Chakir, O., et al.: An empirical assessment of ensemble methods and traditional machine learning techniques for web-based attack detection in industry 5.0. J. King Saud Univ. - Comput. Inf. Sci. 35, 103–119 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jksuci.2023.02.009

  4. Ghafur, S., Kristensen, S., Honeyford, K., Martin, G., Darzi, A., Aylin, P.: A retrospective impact analysis of the WannaCry cyberattack on the NHS. NPJ Digit. Med. 2, 98 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41746-019-0161-6

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Microsoft’s Digital Security Unit: an overview of Russia’s cyberattack activity in Ukraine. 21 (2022)

    Google Scholar 

  6. AlDaajeh, S., Saleous, H., Alrabaee, S., Barka, E., Breitinger, F., Raymond Choo, K.-K.: The role of national cybersecurity strategies on the improvement of cybersecurity education. Comput. Secur. 119, 102754 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.cose.2022.102754

    Article  Google Scholar 

  7. (ISC2): 2019 Cybersecurity Workforce Study (2019). https://www.isc2.org/-/media/ISC2/Research/2019-Cybersecurity-Workforce-Study/ISC2-Cybersecurity-Workforce-Study-2019.ashx

  8. Mouheb, D., Abbas, S., Merabti, M.: Cybersecurity curriculum design: a survey. In: Pan, Z., Cheok, A.D., Müller, W., Zhang, M., El Rhalibi, A., Kifayat, K. (eds.) Transactions on Edutainment XV. LNCS, vol. 11345, pp. 93–107. Springer, Heidelberg (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-662-59351-6_9

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  9. CyberSkills: CyberSkills Taks Force Report. https://www.dhs.gov/publication/homeland-security-advisory-council-cyberskills-task-force-report. Accessed 28 Nov 2022

  10. Chicone, R., Burton, T.M., Huston, J.A.: Using Facebook’s open source capture the flag platform as a hands-on learning and assessment tool for cybersecurity education. Int. J. Concept. Struct. Smart Appl. 6, 18–32 (2018). https://doi.org/10.4018/IJCSSA.2018010102

    Article  Google Scholar 

  11. Carlson, L., Sullivan, J.: Hands-on engineering: learning by doing in the integrated teaching and learning program. Int. J. Eng. Educ. 15(1), 20–31 (1999)

    Google Scholar 

  12. Trippe, D.M., Moriarty, K.O., Russell, T.L., Carretta, T.R., Beatty, A.S.: Development of a cyber/information technology knowledge test for military enlisted technical training qualification. Mil. Psychol. 26, 182–198 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1037/mil0000042

    Article  Google Scholar 

  13. Triejunita, C.N., Putri, A., Rosmansyah, Y.: A systematic literature review on virtual laboratory for learning. In: 2021 International Conference on Data and Software Engineering (ICoDSE), pp. 1–6. IEEE (2021). https://doi.org/10.1109/ICoDSE53690.2021.9648451

  14. Kucek, S., Leitner, M.: An empirical survey of functions and configurations of open-source capture the flag (CTF) environments. J. Netw. Comput. Appl. 151, 102470 (2020). https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jnca.2019.102470

    Article  Google Scholar 

  15. Karagiannis, S., Maragkos-Belmpas, E., Magkos, E.: An analysis and evaluation of open source capture the flag platforms as cybersecurity e-learning tools. In: Drevin, L., Von Solms, S., Theocharidou, M. (eds.) WISE 2020. IAICT, vol. 579, pp. 61–77. Springer, Cham (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-59291-2_5

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  16. Raman, R., Sunny, S., Pavithran, V., Achuthan, K.: Framework for evaluating capture the flag (CTF) security competitions. In: International Conference for Convergence for Technology-2014, pp. 1–5. IEEE (2014). https://doi.org/10.1109/I2CT.2014.7092098

  17. Swann, M., Rose, J., Bendiab, G., Shiaeles, S., Li, F.: Open source and commercial capture the flag cyber security learning platforms - a case study. In: 2021 IEEE International Conference on Cyber Security and Resilience (CSR), pp. 198–205. IEEE (2021). https://doi.org/10.1109/CSR51186.2021.9527941

  18. Knüpfer, M., et al.: Cyber taxi: a taxonomy of interactive cyber training and education systems. In: Hatzivasilis, G., Ioannidis, S. (eds.) MSTEC 2020. LNCS, vol. 12512, pp. 3–21. Springer, Cham (2020). https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-62433-0_1

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  19. Landwehr, C.E., Bull, A.R., McDermott, J.P., Choi, W.S.: A taxonomy of computer program security flaws. ACM Comput. Surv. 26, 211–254 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1145/185403.185412

    Article  Google Scholar 

  20. TryHackMe. https://tryhackme.com. Accessed 03 Jan 2023

  21. Hack The Box. https://www.hackthebox.com/. Accessed 03 Jan 2023

  22. Root Me. https://www.root-me.org/. Accessed 03 Jan 2023

  23. PentesterLab. https://pentesterlab.com/. Accessed 03 Jan 2023

  24. Virtual Hacking Labs. https://www.virtualhackinglabs.com/. Accessed 03 Jan 2023

  25. OWASP Juice Shop. https://owasp.org/www-project-juice-shop/. Accessed 03 Jan 2023

  26. FBCTF (2023). https://github.com/facebookarchive/fbctf

  27. LLC, K.C.// Ctf.: CTFd. https://ctfd.io/. Accessed 03 Jan 2023

  28. picoCTF. https://picoctf.org/. Accessed 03 Jan 2023

  29. TinyCTF. https://github.com/balidani/tinyctf-platform

  30. CISA: NICE Cybersecurity Workforce Framework. https://www.cisa.gov/nice-cybersecurity-workforce-framework. Accessed 03 Jan 2023

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Abdeslam Rehaimi .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2024 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this paper

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this paper

Rehaimi, A., Sadqi, Y., Maleh, Y. (2024). A Comparative Study of Online Cybersecurity Training Platforms. In: Ben Hedia, B., Maleh, Y., Krichen, M. (eds) Verification and Evaluation of Computer and Communication Systems. VECoS 2023. Lecture Notes in Computer Science, vol 14368. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-49737-7_9

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-49737-7_9

  • Published:

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Cham

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-031-49736-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-031-49737-7

  • eBook Packages: Computer ScienceComputer Science (R0)

Publish with us

Policies and ethics