KYPO4INDUSTRY: A Testbed for Teaching Cybersecurity of Industrial Control Systems
It addresses the skill gap in cybersecurity for industrial control systems by providing educators with a practical training tool, though it is incremental as it builds on existing testbed and educational methods.
The paper presents KYPO4INDUSTRY, a testbed and course for teaching cybersecurity of industrial control systems to computer science students, using open-source hardware and software with hands-on projects to simulate real cyber attacks.
There are different requirements on cybersecurity of industrial control systems and information technology systems. This fact exacerbates the global issue of hiring cybersecurity employees with relevant skills. In this paper, we present KYPO4INDUSTRY training facility and a course syllabus for beginner and intermediate computer science students to learn cybersecurity in a simulated industrial environment. The training facility is built using open-source hardware and software and provides reconfigurable modules of industrial control systems. The course uses a flipped classroom format with hands-on projects: the students create educational games that replicate real cyber attacks. Throughout the semester, they learn to understand the risks and gain capabilities to respond to cyber attacks that target industrial control systems. Our described experience from the design of the testbed and its usage can help any educator interested in teaching cybersecurity of cyber-physical systems.