Enabling a Stronger Cyber Workforce
For more than 15 years, the SEI has been investing in developing platforms and courseware for DoD and government cyber warrior readiness.
The SEI's CERT Division developed an initial Virtual Training Environment (VTE) platform using line funding in 2001. By 2005, the VTE was being used to address DoD training and capability-building challenges related to information security. In 2012, the VTE was redesigned to meet cyber workforce training requirements and transitioned as FedVTE to serve tens of thousands of government and military users. The SEI estimates that FedVTE has saved the government over $70 million dollars by providing the equivalent of 24,000 five-day training courses.
The CERT Division followed VTE with a web-based system, the CERT Exercise Network (XNET). The USCYBERCOM Exercise Network is a customized instantiation of XNET. In 2012, the SEI introduced the Simulation, Training, and Exercise Platform (STEP), a flexible, multimedia, e-learning environment that students can access anywhere, anytime. STEP has formed the backbone infrastructure for USCYBERCOM's Cyber Flag and Cyber Guard joint exercises since their inception.
Most recently, in 2015, CERT researchers prototyped an Automated Cyber Readiness Evaluator platform to provide a scalable, objective assessment that validates the technical knowledge and skills of the government's cyber workforce.