Security with AI · · 3 min read

BoardSecOps: The Fusion of AI-Generated Cyber Wargames and Virtual Training Environments

The fusion of AI-generated cyber wargames and virtual training environments (VTEs) offers a powerful solution to address these challenges, toward enhancing strategy development, alignment, and operational readiness.

BoardSecOps: The Fusion of AI-Generated Cyber Wargames and Virtual Training Environments
Cyber Risk Overwatch by Philip Dursey and leonardo.ai, the AI Security Pro human machine (rendering) team

The increasing complexity and rapid evolution of cyber threats necessitate innovative approaches to strategy development, alignment, and operational readiness. The fusion of AI-generated cyber wargames and virtual training environments (VTEs) offers a powerful solution to address these challenges, toward enhancing strategy development, alignment, and operational readiness.

AI-generated cyber wargames are sophisticated simulations that model the complex interactions between attackers and defenders in the cyber domain¹. These wargames leverage advanced AI algorithms to generate realistic and dynamic scenarios, adapting to the actions and decisions of participants². By providing a safe and controlled environment for experimentation, AI-generated cyber wargames enable organizations to test and refine their cybersecurity strategies³.

Virtual training environments (VTEs) are immersive, interactive platforms that replicate real-world cyber threat scenarios⁴. VTEs employ AI-driven adaptive learning techniques to personalize training content and difficulty based on the skills and performance of individual trainees⁵. These environments foster the development of SecOps skills, allowing teams to practice incident response, threat hunting, and cyber decision-making⁶.

The fusion of AI-generated cyber wargames and VTEs creates a powerful tool for strategy development and alignment. Cyber wargames provide a platform for exploring and evaluating different strategic approaches, enabling decision-makers to identify the most effective courses of action⁷. By involving cross-functional teams in wargaming exercises, organizations can foster collaboration, communication, and a shared understanding of cybersecurity priorities⁸.

The combination of AI-generated cyber wargames and VTEs significantly enhances operational readiness. VTEs provide a realistic training ground for cybersecurity teams to hone their skills and develop the muscle memory needed to respond effectively to real-world threats⁹. By incorporating insights from cyber wargames into VTE scenarios, organizations can ensure that training aligns with the latest threat intel and strategic priorities¹⁰. As we've proven in our work at HypergameAI.

The fusion of AI-generated cyber wargames and VTEs represents a significant advancement in cybersecurity strategy development, alignment, and operational readiness. By leveraging the power of AI to create realistic and dynamic simulations, organizations can test and refine their strategies, foster collaboration, and develop the skills of their cybersecurity teams. As cyber threats continue to grow in sophistication and frequency, the adoption of this integrated approach will be crucial for organizations to maintain a robust and effective cyber defense.


References:

1. Appleget, J., Burks, R., & Cameron, F. (2020). Cyber wargaming: framework for enhancing cyber wargaming with realistic business context. The Journal of Defense Modeling and Simulation, 17(3), 275-288.

2. Seker, E., & Ozbenli, H. H. (2018). The concept of cyber defence exercises (CDX): planning, execution, evaluation. In 2018 International Conference on Cyber Security and Protection of Digital Services (Cyber Security) (pp. 1-9). IEEE.

3. Chin, J., & Yeo, Z. Y. (2021). A survey of automated cyber red teaming and wargaming. arXiv preprint arXiv:2105.09920.

4. Priyadarshini, I. (2018). Features and architecture of deception based security model for cyber security. International Journal of Advanced Studies of Scientific Research, 3(9).

5. Frank, M., Leitner, M., & Pahi, T. (2017). Design considerations for cyber security testbeds: A case study on a cyber security testbed for education. In 2017 IEEE 15th Intl Conf on Dependable, Autonomic and Secure Computing (pp. 38-46). IEEE.

6. Okoli, J., Weller, G., & Watt, J. (2016). Cyber-security training and awareness through game play. In International Conference on Human Aspects of Information Security, Privacy, and Trust (pp. 191-207). Springer, Cham.

7. Gondree, M., Peterson, Z. N., & Denning, T. (2013). Security through play. IEEE Security & Privacy, 11(3), 64-67.

8. Henshel, D., Deckard, G. M., Lufkin, B., Buchler, N., Hoffman, B., Rajivan, P., & Collman, S. (2016). Predicting proficiency in cyber defense team exercises. In MILCOM 2016-2016 IEEE Military Communications Conference (pp. 776-781). IEEE.

9. Lif, P., Sommestad, T., & Granasen, D. (2019). Development of cyber defense exercises for a private cloud: Identifying target systems and services. In 2019 IEEE Cyber Science (pp. 114-122). IEEE.

10. Brynielsson, J., Franke, U., & Varga, S. (2016). Cyber situational awareness testing. In Cyber Situational Awareness, Data Analytics And Assessment (Cyber SA), 2016 International Conference On (pp. 1-8). IEEE.

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