Why do you need to train cybersecurity employees?

New threats and attack vectors emerge, spanning across a converged attack surface of IT and OT networks, as well as IoT devices. Attacks have become time-sensitive, requiring SOCs to detect and respond within seconds to minutes, and challenging the SOC’s ability to perform effectively.

Forward thinking CISOs now understand that rushing to spend their growing budgets to purchase the latest tools, hoping that the new technology will finally improve their security posture, will not resolve their strategic, and, in many cases, existential problems. They are beginning to acknowledge that their teams are not professionally equipped to face the new generation threats, not because of the lack of products or technologies, but because they don't really know how to operate them effectively. Most of them have never trained effectively, either as individuals or as a team, never faced a multi-stage attack, and have never used their technologies in a real-life attack scenario, requiring them to respond to an evolving attack within minutes.

Investing in our cyber experts and in our SOC teams, both as individuals, as well as a unified team, is THE key to an effective SOC. In the case of cybersecurity, this challenge is amplified. The shortage in cybersecurity professionals is at a critical state and will only continue to grow, forcing cybersecurity leaders to hire unexperienced team members to fill in open positions. Security analysts, often junior and barely trained, are expected to master dozens of security products in increasing numbers, defending against threats they have never experienced before.

What is a cybersecurity simulation and why is it needed?

Traditional IT security training is largely ineffective, because it relies on sterile, mostly theoretical training. It is often conducted on the job by SOC team members rather than by professional instructors. To get our security teams prepared to face today’s multi-dimensional IT and OT security challenges, we must place them in a technology-driven environment that mirrors their own, facing real-life threats. In other words: hyper-realistic simulation.

Just as you would never send a pilot to combat before simulating emergency scenarios and potential combat situations, we should not send our cyber defenders to the field before enabling them to experience potential attacks and practicing response within a simulated environment.

A flight simulator replicates the actual combat zone, from realistic weather conditions, aircraft instruments to enemy aircraft attacks. This realism maximizes the impact of the training session. Similarly, the way to maximize the effectiveness of security training is by providing a virtual replica of your actual “warzone” resulting in a true-to-life experience. Security teams should use the actual security tools they use at work, and should experience their familiar network setup, and traffic. Threats should be simulated accurately, including advanced, evolving threats, targeted malware and ransomware.