Cyber Range Leader Announces Latest Release of The Most Widely Adopted Cyber Training Range (4.5.1)

Aries Security announced today after nearly a year of user acceptance testing, that its world-leading simulation platform for training cybersecurity professionals, Capture The Packet, is now available as a cloud-based offering.  This is in addition to the on-premises VM and portable appliance. With this offering Aries has made it easier for organizations to provide their cybersecurity teams with advanced simulation exercises in a simple, cost effective manner, anytime, anywhere.

Aries has also added extensive new features to Capture The Packet including full NIST/NICE Framework mapping for selecting challenges to work roles, an updated FAQ database containing new content and over 8,000 RFCs to assist users in answering the real-world challenges and building up their knowledge. An additional 25 challenges including Phishing, DKIM & SPF, Denial of Service, Virtual Machine attacks and Disk Forensics have been added. Aries has also added dozens of new cyber tools to the existing tools library that enable trainees to respond, including the addition of a live version of CyberChef into the system. CyberChef is a tool that provides functionality that most SOC analyst and threat hunters use in their day-to-day workload.  Aries also now supports Single Sign-on (SSO) and API integration of training results to Learning Management Systems.

Aries Capture The Packet has evolved to meet the most rigid Cyber Training requirements of the US Military and Government. It is used extensively by the US Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard, DHS, as well as NATO allies such as Australia. These customers are greatly enhancing their readiness by training their cyber security teams with the latest real-world simulated attacks including ransomware, DDoS, Trojans, worms, file-less attacks and web server exploits. By experiencing attacks in an environment that closely resembles the real-world, cybersecurity professionals significantly improve their performance and reduce response time during a real cyberattack. Exercises span across multiple blue and red team roles and include both individual and team exercises in varied levels of difficulty.

“A number of units in the Military no longer allow troops to put hands-on keyboard until they have achieved a specific skill level in Capture The Packet and are considered mission qualified. ” said Brian Markus, CEO, “We’ve seen this same requirement in the commercial sector for SOC operators. When trying to fill critical cyber security roles, there are tons of candidates claiming they can do the job. One or two brain dump certifications does not make them qualified. The lack of actual hands-on skills is scary.  CTP gives companies an objective way to vet potential candidates as well as increasing the effectiveness of their existing staff.”

The cloud-based cyber range includes virtual instructor capabilities enabling trainees to practice independently and receive feedback automatically, without the need for an instructor. . Additionally, the cloud-based cyber range is aligned and mapped to NICE Work Roles to ensure that any trainee is compliant with the knowledge, skills, and abilities to uniformly work across the cybersecurity industry.

The cloud offering has already been launched with the US Military and is being used within the joint force Persistent Cyber Training Environment (PCTE) and is available across North America, Europe, Australia, as well as select countries in Asia.