Defence Online

Dstl recognised at Institution of Engineering and Technology Awards

Homeland November 28, 2018

Representatives from the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) have received an award in recognition of their work in the cyber security field.

Event Partner: Dstl

The award winners beat off stiff competition from more than 350 entries, with the Dstl Cyber Card Game receiving an ‘Institution of Engineering and Technology’ (IET) award.

Dstl’s entry utilizes ‘gamification science’ – adopting a card-game-based approach to teach users about cyber security without the need for technical expertise, or even a computer.

Those being trained are asked to work as a team to attack a fictional organisation. If they are to be successful, trainees will need to obtain access, information and other resources – giving them a deeper understanding of protection against cyber attacks in the process.

Lasting little more than two hours, the Cyber Card Game provides in-depth training suitable for employees and senior managers. And yet, as the game only uses open source, abstracted attack techniques, there is no security classification associated.

According to a lead scientist at Dstl: “We were up against commercial companies so this award demonstrates how Dstl’s work is competitive in this field. The card game was a result of many months of hard work by the team.

“It increases education and awareness of the fundamentals of cyber-security. This area is of growing importance and we must be ahead of the curve when it comes to looking at the risks for defence and for wider security.”

Dstl says 80% of cyber breaches can be accounted for by the lack of implementation of cyber fundamentals – being able to avoid basic phishing attacks, for example. The Cyber Card Game is advertised for licence at no cost through Dstl’s Easy Access IP scheme.

A spokesperson from the IET Cyber Security Award judging panel added: “Congratulations on winning one of our 2018 IET Innovation Awards! You were recognised as a cut above our incredibly competitive shortlist and we hope you will enjoy your win as much as we enjoyed judging all the wonderful entries.”

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Cyber Card Game cyber security Dstl Institution of Engineering and Technology Awards

Post written by: Robert Atherton