SimSpace collaborates with ACSC to provide cyber range exercises for organizations
SimSpace announced that the company is partnering with the Advanced Cyber Security Center (ACSC), New England’s non-profit committed to advancing collaborative defense for its members, to provide advanced cyber range exercises for cyber defenders to test their skills and responses during live-fire events.
“We’re thrilled to provide a cyber range, powered by SimSpace, where we can put collaborative defense into action – giving our members the chance to practice incident response, test playbooks, and work on team development with peers from other organizations,” said Jim Dinneen, Chief Operating Officer of the ACSC.
ACSC Executive Chairman Bill Guenther noted, “A select few organizations currently utilize cyber ranges for exercises. We are glad our members are at the forefront of this growing trend using advanced cyber range technology for hands-on-keyboard incident response training and team development. Going forward, we anticipate cyber operators will expect these advanced development platforms where they can hone their skills, practice as a team, and ensure they have strong incident communication. The results from last year’s ACSC-SimSpace Cyber Range Training Program speak for themselves.”
In 2021, ACSC members conducted three incident response exercises on the high-fidelity SimSpace Cyber Range Platform. One exercise focused on individual organizations and was executed in parallel so ACSC member Blue Teams could compare notes on effective response strategies in a recap session. Two additional exercises were conducted with shared teams, where blue teamers from one organization collaborated with other members to learn from one another.
At the conclusion of the program, seven teams were able to learn about their effectiveness, make adjustments to their incident response plans, identify gaps in their response capabilities, and take notes on how they worked together and communicated as an effective response team.
“As we continue to see major threats to our financial system, critical infrastructure, and healthcare organizations, last year’s results truly validate just how important these exercises are,” said William Hutchison, CEO and co-founder at SimSpace. “Seeing how team members not only communicate with each other but also best leverage the real technologies they’re using to fight off cyberattacks is critical to identifying the gaps in response procedures, information sharing, and bolstering the broader cybersecurity posture in the region.”
The leading organizations in the ACSC’s Cyber Range program include the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, Federal Reserve Bank of Boston, Liberty Mutual, Manulife/John Hancock, Munich Re, and Schneider Electric. This year they will be joined by MIT Lincoln Lab, Harvard University, and MITRE.
The SimSpace Cyber Range platform is trusted by organizations worldwide, including the US Department of Defense Persistent Cyber Training Environment (PCTE), the Department of Homeland Security, and five of the 15 largest financial institutions in North America.