Objectives

The FORESIGHT project aims to develop a federated cyber-range solution in order to enhance the preparedness (prevention, detection, reaction and mitigation) of cyber-security professionals at all levels (from junior to senior) by delivering a realistic training and simulation platform that brings together unique cyber-security aspects from the aviation, power grid and naval ecosystems. Hybrid scenarios will also be implemented by introducing IoT simulated devices (e.g. sensors) to the aforementioned ecosystems. The high-level project objectives, which are aligned with (and extend to) the specific challenges and topic activities of the work programme, are:

Delivery of a state-of-the-art platform that considerably extends the capabilities of existing cyber-ranges by allowing them to be part of a cyber-range federation, where current and future cyber-ranges and simulation training environments of varying TRLs contribute by adding domain specificities (apart from those considered during the project’s lifetime) and allowing complex cross-domain (i.e. hybrid) scenarios to be built.

Development of realistic and dynamic scenarios based on identified and forecasted trends and needs in terms of cyber-attacks and vulnerabilities (along with their cascading effects), based on cyber-threat intelligence that is gathered from various online sources and the dark web, to enable cyber-security professionals to rapidly adapt to an evolving threat landscape.

Development of advanced risk analysis and econometric models, constantly updated with real-life incidents, that will assist organisations to estimate the impact of cyber-risks, select the most appropriate and affordable security measures to protect valuable assets, and minimise the cost and time to recover from cyber-attacks.

Delivery of innovative training curricula, going far beyond those individual domains considered in the project, guiding cyber-security professionals to implement and combine security measures in innovative ways by using new technologies; established learning methodologies will be employed to maximise the outcome of training (that will be linked to professional certification programs), which will be efficiently supported by learning platforms to establish a rich cyber-security FORESIGHT knowledge base.

The FORESIGHT project aims to develop a federated cyber-range solution in order to enhance the preparedness (prevention, detection, reaction and mitigation) of cyber-security professionals at all levels (from junior to senior).

It is evidenced from the above objectives that, besides mere development of skills, the FORESIGHT platform aims at a holistic approach to cyber-threat management. In addition to the functionalities that most CR systems typically provide, like project support (security evaluation of infrastructure’s components) and operational support (capture the flag exercises, cyber-competitions, cyber-operations’ training), the project puts considerable emphasis on research and development (i.e. research on advanced cyber-threats, experimentation, development of novel ideas and tools) as the key to increasing the dynamics of training and awareness methods in order to match/exceed the rate of evolution of cyber-attackers.