The Cyber Range Lite
摘要
This paper presents the requirements, design, development, and evaluation of a container-based cyber range for cybersecurity training and education named Cyber Range Lite (CRL). CRL is a scalable, lightweight platform with well-defined interfaces tailored to educational contexts. Cybersecurity exercises, or challenges, are described using a YAML-based template and deployed via Docker container images, which simulate a networked environment with a large number of hosts orchestrated by Docker Swarm. Students access the system through WireGuard VPN tunnels. We initially tested CRL using jeopardy-style Capture The Flag (CTF) exercises, comprising independent challenges. We then extended it to a virtual network scenario where students must solve challenges in a prescribed sequence. CRL was deployed and evaluated in an advanced-level ethical hacking course, where we compared its functionality, cost, and student feedback against a previous cyber range implementation based on virtual machines hosted on the Google Cloud Platform. Our results indicate that CRL offers a cost-effective and pedagogically flexible alternative for hands-on cybersecurity education.