Capacity Building for Control System Security Collaborative Project

随着我们国家越来越多的关键基础设施通过计算机系统掌握在公共和私人雇员手中，对网络安全教育的劳动力的需求从未如此之大。由于这些基础设施的运行严重依赖于控制系统，因此必须对未来的劳动力进行有关此类系统安全性的教育和培训。该项目将作为实现这一目的的一种手段，其在加强网络安全教育-特别是控制系统安全方面的新奇是基于利用基于问题的学习技术和动手实验的全面学习。总的来说，这些活动和相应的持续改进评估过程提供了一个可在全国范围内推广的变革性教育体系。最重要的是，该项目处于有利地位，有能力为网络安全教育带来前所未有的改善，特别是对代表性不足的群体的成员。 认识到迫切需要保护我们国家的重要基础设施，这一合作能力建设项目承担了一系列相互交织的任务，其主要目标是开发控制系统安全课程材料，通过为社区学院和四年制机构的教师提供专业发展讲习班来加强网络安全课程，评估这些学习和教学材料的有效性，并传播这些材料，以便在全国范围内广泛收养。该项目为教师提供了一个独特的机会，可以扩展和重组他们的网络安全课程，以解决当前控制系统安全教育和研究的差距。在设计和实施课程模块和虚拟试验平台方面的协作努力，有助于这些课程工具和材料在各级高等教育中的适应性。该项目建立在两个非常成功的赠款项目基础上：美国国家科学基金会（NSF）资助的关键基础设施安全和评估实验室（CISAL）项目于2013年5月完成，国防部（DoD）赞助的安全意识培训项目游戏化于2013年12月完成。随着CISAL项目发展起来的便携式和具有成本效益的工具包以及可免费获取的课程模块为在各国广泛采用课程提供了慷慨的动力。

With an ever-increasing part of our nation's critical infrastructures in the hands of public and private employees via computer systems, the need for a cybersecurity educated workforce has never been so great. Since the operation of these infrastructures is heavily dependent on control systems, it is imperative that the future workforce be educated and trained on the security of such systems. This project will serve as an instrument to that purpose and its novelty in enhancing cybersecurity education--in particular control systems security--is predicated on total learning immersion utilizing problem-based-learning techniques and hands-on experimentation. Collectively, the activities and the corresponding evaluation process for continuous improvement present a transformative educational system that is replicable at the national setting. Most importantly, this project is well-positioned and has the capacity to bring about unprecedented improvement in cybersecurity education particularly to members of the underrepresented groups. Recognizing the urgent need to protect our nation's critical infrastructures, this collaborative capacity building project undertakes a series of intertwined tasks with the primary objectives of developing control systems security curriculum materials, enhancing cybersecurity curricula by offering professional development workshops to instructors of community colleges and 4-year institutions, evaluating the effectiveness of these learning and teaching materials, and disseminating these materials for widespread national adoptions. The project presents a unique opportunity for faculty to expand and retool their cybersecurity curricula to address the current gap in control systems security education and research. The collaborative effort in the design and implementation of the course modules and the virtual testbed facilitates the adaptability of those curriculum tools and materials in all levels of higher education. The project builds on two highly successful grant projects: the National Science Foundation (NSF) funded Critical Infrastructure Security and Assessment Laboratory (CISAL) project that was completed in May 2013 and the Department of Defense (DoD) sponsored gamification of security awareness training project that was completed in December 2013. The portable and cost-effective toolkit that evolved with the CISAL project and the freely accessible course modules provide generous motivations for widespread curriculum adoption across national settings.