Mitigating Cyberattacks: An Active Learning Instructional Case

This article presents an instructional resource developed around the U.S. Department of Defense CyberProtect simulation. Students actively learn about cyberattacks and potential mitigation strategies when playing the CyberProtect simulation game. Students assume the role of a systems administrator purchasing tools and experimenting to defend against possible random cyberattacks for one round of simulation (approximating four quarters of a fiscal year). Results from a repeated measures study suggest that students significantly increased their level of understanding of cyberattacks by deploying more effective mitigation tools in the post test. Additionally, the majority of students reported that they enjoyed the assignment.