To get government employees interested in emerging cybersecurity techniques, government agencies are trying to engage them through games—such as capture the flag (CTF)—in different scenarios that simulate cyber risks. Bill Rowan, vice president of federal sales at software company VMware, recently said that these efforts are helpful in raising awareness.
The games are designed to educate government employees, students, or anyone who wants to gain insight into the dangers of cyberspace. The North Carolina Department of Information Technology, for example, partnered with VMware during a statewide event that kicked off earlier this month to run a capture-the-flag game. The exercise is designed to simulate offensive and defensive tactics that cyber teams would execute in a real-world emergency, such as a ransomware.
Exercises like the capture-the-flag game (CTF) help with active participation by increasing awareness of cybersecurity.
“Cyber awareness and cyber information is the responsibility of everyone within an organization, not just security specialists,” Rowan said.
Although the technology has caught the attention of politicians, public servants are not aware of cybersecurity. Rowan said that technology without built-in cybersecurity is a hacker 's dream .
