Incorporating gamification elements and innovative approaches in training programs are promising for addressing cybersecurity knowledge gaps. Cybersecurity education should combine hard and soft skill development when building the capacity to manage cyber incidents requiring timely communication, team collaboration, and self-efficacy in risk assessment and incident mitigation. The paper presents a design and evaluation of the technology-enhanced cybersecurity education approach CAPE which works as a hybrid escape room. It combines a virtualized infrastructure simulating the business environment and the physical environment where game participants play the role of the incident response team at the organization’s premises. The CAPE could be applied as a student-centered approach in the educational environment. The work employed a multiple-methods research approach to design a gamified approach and investigate crisis communication, collaboration, self-regulation, and technical competences in incident management scenarios. The design science methodology empowered the game’s construction with an attack surface covering physical and digital security. The undergraduate students participated in the pilot execution and completed the psychological questionnaires. The results were analyzed using statistical methods. Results of the CAPE execution showed a positive impact on student performance and increased interest in cybersecurity. The designed approach promoted field-specific competence development. The results demonstrated the significance of psychological aspects related to incident management. Graphical abstract

Active usage of threat intelligence information supports effective prevention, mitigation and defence against cyberattacks by threat actors ranging from individual amateurs to state organizations. However, threat intelligence highly depends on security specialists’ ability to share incident data on threat information-sharing platforms. Unfortunately, business managers and educational institutions undervalue the information-sharing aspect when planning the professional development of cybersecurity-related specialists. Consequently, cybersecurity specialists are insufficiently motivated to correctly communicate and propagate relevant information with team members, superiors, relevant institutions and the global community about the impact of the incident. Literature review reveals many technological, legal and psychological obstacles hindering successful information exchange. This research aims to improve threat information sharing by focusing on the educational aspect of the problem and analysing the attitude of cybersecurity specialists during cyber defence exercises (CDX). Our case study disclosed nine factors obstructing both proper reporting to relevant authorities and adequate communication among teams. By addressing these factors, CDX organizers could substantially improve the development of highly beneficial soft skills of the technical specialists.

The impact of cybersecurity (CS) on public well-being is increasing due to the continued digitisation process of all industry sectors. The protection of information systems rests upon a sufficient number of CS specialists and their competences. A cyber-competence map describing the capacity and trends of the CS workforce is an essential element of the workforce development strategy. Large enterprises tend to have narrowly specialised employees with clearly identifiable roles. Still, most enterprises in small countries are SMEs. Therefore, the tasks and responsibilities of many CS-related specialists overlap the functions of several roles. This paper aims to develop a small-state cybersecurity competence map consistent with the standards of professional organisations. The work applies a combined qualitative and quantitative methodological approach to collect data using questionnaires and expert interviews in the CS field organisations. The study includes a representative public survey, a large-scale survey of company executives, an exploratory CS expert survey, and a comprehensive job posting analysis. Finally, a national CS competence map is presented and verified using two qualitative semi-structured interviews with field professionals. Even though the map reflects a status of a small nation state, it is activity-based and might be applicable in any country. As a future research direction, we will investigate the impact of early and late exposure to cybersecurity competences in education and framework applicability.

Hands-on and practical learning has been key to cybersecurity education and training success. Cyber Defense Exercises (CDX) are a common approach to training, testing, and verifying technical and soft skills. However, full-scale CDX implementation is also an expensive training event. In order to advance such exercises to the next level, CDX organizers should further focus on educational, psychological, and cross-domain relationships. The paper discusses and proposes a multidimensional approach for CDX that balances cognitive, emotional, and social aspects critical for successful interdisciplinary learning. We share our experience incorporating knowledge from well-known psychology theories to CDX. We derive and describe seven elementary ingredients if a CDX is to meet the interdisciplinary and critical thinking needs of defensive cyberspace operations.