How Gamification & Realistic Labs Bring Cybersecurity Teaching Within Reach

What if you could teach professional-level cybersecurity skills that focus on knowledge retention through hands-on learning? Would you like to empower and educate your students with realistic cyber scenarios? Would you like to equip your cybersecurity classroom with the right cybersecurity tools and techniques so that successful cybersecurity teaching could be within reach?

What if we told you all of this is possible? 

Meet your solution known as Project Ares, a gamified cybersecurity teaching platform that’s born from 20 years of research and development. Backed by a comprehensive catalog of scenarios, this learning experience empowers instructor-led cybersecurity teaching programs to educate and equip cybersecurity students and professionals with real-world experience. 

Gamification + Labs = Cybersecurity Learning

When students learn through gamification, parts of their brains like the left temporal cortex, the frontal and parietal cortices, and the auditory cortex are activated. It’s important to realize that these parts of the brain regulate: 

• Processing Language
• Association of Ideas
• Memory
• Attention

Another key point is traditional, fact-based learning doesn’t reach these areas nearly as effectively as gamified learning. However, if cybersecurity courses, or training programs and boot camps, from universities, enterprises, or government departments implement gamified learning and cyber labs, these institutions would see an increase in student knowledge retention and engagement! 

With this learning model in mind, we made the decision to include three separate scenarios designed to train specific cybersecurity tasks, knowledge, and skills. What’s more, do you know the best part? These real-world cybersecurity environments are realistic. Furthermore, this means the Project Ares experience your students will receive is representative of what they’ll do on the job.  

Not to mention that we also understand the importance of teamwork and hands-on learning. In Project Ares’ team play modules, students work with peers to solve real-life simulations, such as data breaches. In addition to this, they also interact with hands-on activities covering classroom theory and tools (Wireshark, Python, and Linux) with cybersecurity labs. 

By using repetitive play, students combine rational information and cybersecurity experience. Because of this learning style, students retain more information! How cool is that? 

Now that you know why this style of learning engagement and labs work so well together to encourage successful cybersecurity education, is your curiosity sparked? We hope so. Therefore, let’s take deeper dive into how Project Ares can supplement your cybersecurity training curriculum!  

Project Ares: A Cybersecurity Teaching Platform

Specialized Missions

Project Ares’ specialized mission scenarios encourage students to solve complex problems as they play in the context of real-world threat scenarios. Here, they’ll face threats like botnets, phishing and exfiltration, ransomware, etc. 

Cybersecurity Skill Assessments

By using virtual machines, our assessments challenge skills that protect against cyberattacks in capture the flag (CTF)-style scenarios. We also offer hints to help students find flags. 

For all of these scenarios, you can 

• Monitor student progression through the labs with session playback and reporting. 
• Coach students in real-time. 
• Assess and grade skills by disabling hints and the in-game advisor, Athena. 

These assessments also come with a comprehensive media library and a series of arcade-style, cyberlearning games to reinforce basic skills and knowledge.

Cybersecurity Teaching Resources

Once equipped with Project Ares, access the instructor-only area to view the solution guide for every task in a scenario. Here, you’ll find multiple teaching and implementation services to help you get started. Also, make sure to check out our Instructor Services page to learn how to incorporate Project Ares into your teaching plans. All of these materials are in one place. So, all you need to do is focus on your students! 

Of course, if you want to learn more about Project Ares, try our demo! If you like your experience with it or have additional questions, let’s have a conversation.

Now that you know how Project Ares and gamified learning fits into cybersecurity, together, we can effectively bring cybersecurity teaching within your reach. See you on the training ground!