A Virtualization-Based Laboratory for Learners’ Hands-On Skills of Hacking

Abstract

Information security continues to be a popular concern in current days, leading academics and practitioners to contributing lots of efforts in this field. Inspired by The Art of War, this study considers that engineering students would learn better if they have hands-on experience of both attack and defense skills in security education. In this regard, having a controlled and well defined environment whereby students can play the role of attackers and defenders is important. However, the foci of prior research are centered mainly on the implementation of security laboratories. To our knowledge, there is little empirical evidence actually examining the influence of exploiting virtualization technology on learners' acquisitions of attacking and defending skills. This study proposes a series of pedagogic activities that are believed to enhance learners' cognitive outcomes based on an integral view of Kolb's Experiential Learning Theory. This pilot study recruits engineering students and exploits a virtualized laboratory implemented by VMware vSphere Hypervisor to enhance their hands-on experience. The experimental course is 'Information Security', which requires a total of eighteen-week of instruction and lasts for around three hours each lecture. The participants are assessed totally three times as their scores of pretest, posttest, and delayed posttest. The assessments include a set of exercises to evacuate the participants' knowledge of information security.

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Author Information
Jung-Lung Hsu, Kainan University, Taiwan
Kuo-Ming Hung, Kainan University, Taiwan
Wu-Yuin Hwang, National Central University, Taiwan
Huey-Wen Chou, National Central University, Taiwan

• Category: ACSS ACSEE AGEN 2016, ACSS2016, Paper Available, Poster Presentation
• Tag: Education and Social Welfare,

Posted by James Alexander Gordon

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