Posted on October 30, 2021 by Wendy Frost
The Cyber Range at the UTSA Carlos Alvarez College of Business is hosting an open house from 9 a.m.-4 p.m. Nov. 9-10 to showcase their world class, interactive cybersecurity training facility. Simulating real world cyber-attack scenarios, the range provides individuals and companies with hands-on training in a safe and secure environment.
“Given the nationwide shortage in trained cyber professionals, our Cyber Range serves as a testbed for individuals to hone their skills and for corporations to practice their incident response plans,” said Pamela C. Smith , interim dean and Bodenstedt Chair. “Our Cyber Range complements our nationally-ranked academic programs and showcases resources that are available to support businesses, government organizations and military units.”
A cyber range is a hands-on training facility where individuals and teams receive training on how to respond to and defend real-world cybersecurity attacks in a simulated, virtual environment. UTSA’s fully-customizable and automated facility can also allow companies to assess their current security tools and architecture in a safe and controlled environment.
The open house will be conducted both in person and virtually and will introduce participants to the Cyber Range’s capabilities. Individuals can register to participate in free demonstrations of several training scenarios including a ransomware attack, SCADA vulnerability exploit and a website defacement.
“Speed of response, coordination amongst team members and understanding a team’s strengths and weaknesses are critical to fending off and defending against cyber attacks, yet most teams haven’t faced this scenario,” said Joe Mallen , director of the UTSA Cyber Range. “The UTSA Cyber Range provides the experience of being under attack and learning to work together as a team, all without ever exposing your business infrastructure to real threats.”
Running on corporate-grade, fully-functioning virtual networks, the Cyber Range network architecture allows teams to experience advanced attacker behaviors that they may encounter on the job like ping sweeps, lateral movement and data exfiltration. Participants then leverage a suite of commercial security tools to remediate the attack. Ultimately, the platform assesses an individual’s progress and evaluates their skill based on a variety of factors throughout the scenario.
“Just like pilots learn how to fly using flight simulators, cybersecurity professionals can learn the nuances of cyber defense through these live play scenarios,” said Mallen. “We are building a community of cyber warriors who can all look out for each other.”
Individuals or corporations can participate in individual training sessions or purchase a Cyber Range membership. The membership allows access to free training sessions, quarterly speaking events, tabletop exercises and discounted private training sessions. Sessions completed on the range also qualify for continuing education units.
Register for the open house online and learn more about the Cyber Range’s operations, visit or email them at cyberrange@utsa.edu .
Open House Agenda
Tuesday, Nov. 9
9-10 a.m. Welcome and Q&A
10-11 a.m. Web Defacement Attack Demo
Noon-1 p.m. Ransomware Attack Demo
3-4 p.m. SCADA Vulnerability Exploit Demo
Wednesday, Nov. 10
9-10 a.m. Welcome and Q&A
10-11 a.m. SCADA Vulnerability Exploit Demo
Noon-1 p.m. Web Defacement Attack Demo
3-4 p.m. Ransomware Attack Demo
— Wendy Frost
