Leveraging VR/AR/MR/XR Technologies to Improve Cybersecurity Education, Training, and Operations

The United States faces persistent threats conducting malicious cyber campaigns that threaten critical infrastructure, companies and their intellectual property, and the privacy of its citizens. Additionally, there are millions of unfilled cybersecurity positions, and the cybersecurity skills gap co...

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Main Authors: Paul Wagner, Dalal Alharthi
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: Kennesaw State University 2023-10-01
Series:Journal of Cybersecurity Education, Research & Practice
Online Access:https://digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu/jcerp/vol2024/iss1/7/
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author Paul Wagner
Dalal Alharthi
author_facet Paul Wagner
Dalal Alharthi
author_sort Paul Wagner
collection DOAJ
description The United States faces persistent threats conducting malicious cyber campaigns that threaten critical infrastructure, companies and their intellectual property, and the privacy of its citizens. Additionally, there are millions of unfilled cybersecurity positions, and the cybersecurity skills gap continues to widen. Most companies believe that this problem has not improved and nearly 44% believe it has gotten worse over the past 10 years. Threat actors are continuing to evolve their tactics, techniques, and procedures for conducting attacks on public and private targets. Education institutions and companies must adopt emerging technologies to develop security professionals and to increase cybersecurity awareness holistically. Leveraging Virtual/ Augmented/Mixed/Extended Reality technologies for education, training, and awareness can augment traditional learning methodologies and improve the nation’s cybersecurity posture. This paper reviews previous research to identify how distance and remote education are conducted generally, and how Virtual/Augmented/Extended/Mixed reality technologies are used to conduct cybersecurity awareness training, cybersecurity training, and conduct operations. Finally, barriers to adopting these technologies will be discussed. Understanding how these technologies can be developed and implemented provides one potential way of overcoming the cybersecurity workforce gap and increasing the competencies and capabilities of cybersecurity professionals.
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spelling doaj-art-34f7fc104ba64e0b91a9f14644ee97db2025-08-20T02:36:09ZengKennesaw State UniversityJournal of Cybersecurity Education, Research & Practice2472-27072023-10-0120241Leveraging VR/AR/MR/XR Technologies to Improve Cybersecurity Education, Training, and OperationsPaul Wagner0Dalal Alharthi1University of ArizonaUniversity of ArizonaThe United States faces persistent threats conducting malicious cyber campaigns that threaten critical infrastructure, companies and their intellectual property, and the privacy of its citizens. Additionally, there are millions of unfilled cybersecurity positions, and the cybersecurity skills gap continues to widen. Most companies believe that this problem has not improved and nearly 44% believe it has gotten worse over the past 10 years. Threat actors are continuing to evolve their tactics, techniques, and procedures for conducting attacks on public and private targets. Education institutions and companies must adopt emerging technologies to develop security professionals and to increase cybersecurity awareness holistically. Leveraging Virtual/ Augmented/Mixed/Extended Reality technologies for education, training, and awareness can augment traditional learning methodologies and improve the nation’s cybersecurity posture. This paper reviews previous research to identify how distance and remote education are conducted generally, and how Virtual/Augmented/Extended/Mixed reality technologies are used to conduct cybersecurity awareness training, cybersecurity training, and conduct operations. Finally, barriers to adopting these technologies will be discussed. Understanding how these technologies can be developed and implemented provides one potential way of overcoming the cybersecurity workforce gap and increasing the competencies and capabilities of cybersecurity professionals.https://digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu/jcerp/vol2024/iss1/7/
spellingShingle Paul Wagner
Dalal Alharthi
Leveraging VR/AR/MR/XR Technologies to Improve Cybersecurity Education, Training, and Operations
Journal of Cybersecurity Education, Research & Practice
title Leveraging VR/AR/MR/XR Technologies to Improve Cybersecurity Education, Training, and Operations
title_full Leveraging VR/AR/MR/XR Technologies to Improve Cybersecurity Education, Training, and Operations
title_fullStr Leveraging VR/AR/MR/XR Technologies to Improve Cybersecurity Education, Training, and Operations
title_full_unstemmed Leveraging VR/AR/MR/XR Technologies to Improve Cybersecurity Education, Training, and Operations
title_short Leveraging VR/AR/MR/XR Technologies to Improve Cybersecurity Education, Training, and Operations
title_sort leveraging vr ar mr xr technologies to improve cybersecurity education training and operations
url https://digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu/jcerp/vol2024/iss1/7/
work_keys_str_mv AT paulwagner leveragingvrarmrxrtechnologiestoimprovecybersecurityeducationtrainingandoperations
AT dalalalharthi leveragingvrarmrxrtechnologiestoimprovecybersecurityeducationtrainingandoperations