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Cybersecurity War Games: Kaspersky, DiploFoundation Intro Attack Simulator

Kaspersky and DiploFoundation, a Swiss-Maltese nonprofit educational organization that specializes in internet governance and digital policy, have developed an online cybersecurity training game to teach users about cyberattacks and how to respond to them.

The game is intended for diplomats and non-technical cyber professionals, according to Kaspersky. It is based on the Kaspersky Interactive Protection Simulation (KIPS) game and includes a specially designed fictional environment that imitates cyberattacks against the United Nations.

The game allows users to play as diplomats in a fictional world facing an attack on the UN First Committee, Kaspersky said. It requires players to make decisions with action cards, which help them resolve a cyberattack or cause the attack to escalate.

During the game, users collect pieces of evidence and technical information to respond to as many questions as possible about a cyberattack, Kaspersky indicated. They can utilize this information to determine what or who is the intended cyberattack target, what cybercrime techniques have been used, the cyber incident's severity and who was behind the attack in the simulated environment.

Most diplomats and cyber professionals who deal with cyber diplomacy lack a technical background, Kaspersky Senior Public Affairs Manager Anastasiya Kazakova said. With the Kaspersky-Diplo game, these individuals can learn about cyber threats and the best ways to guard against them.

In addition, cyber and digital security issues "dominate the international agenda," Diplo Director of Cybersecurity and E-diplomacy Vladimir Radunović stated. The Kaspersky-Diplo game lets users simulate these issues, understand their impact and plan accordingly.

Global organizations can leverage KIPS as part of the Kaspersky Security Awareness portfolio. In doing so, they can let employees play a cybersecurity training game to simulate attacks.

Cyberattack War Games: Coming to MSPs Soon?

Meanwhile, the cyberattack war game conversation has been heating up in the MSP market. For instance, N-able recently completed a cyber war game tabletop exercise with third-party advisors, CEO John Pagliuca told ChannelE2E (see video below):

Over time, similar war game exercises could be packaged and/or positioned for smaller MSPs that are striving to mitigate internal and customer business risks, Pagliuca predicted.

Dan Kobialka

Dan Kobialka is senior contributing editor, MSSP Alert and ChannelE2E. He covers IT security, IT service provider business strategies and partner programs. Dan holds a M.A. in Print and Multimedia Journalism from Emerson College and a B.A. in English from Bridgewater State University. In his free time, Dan enjoys jogging, traveling, playing sports, touring breweries and watching football.

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