Central Texas College is investing in hands-on cybersecurity education with a new $20,000 cyber range that will allow students to attack, defend and analyze computer systems in an environment designed to mirror situations they could encounter in the workforce. The cyber range was purchased with federal funding through the Carl D. Perkins Career and Technical Education grant. The funding covered the components needed for the system, while CTC students provided the labor to build the servers that will power the training environment. Shane Curington, professor of computer science at CTC, said the range is intended to move cybersecurity education beyond classroom theory by allowing students to apply their skills against other students. “What we’re doing is we’re installing servers for our cybersecurity cyber range,” Curington said. “We’ll have attackers and defenders, and they’ll be able to try to attack the systems. We’ll have students try to attack the systems, and we’ll have students trying to defend the systems.” The student-built aspect of the project adds another layer of practical experience. Before using the cyber range for simulated attacks and defenses, students gained experience assembling the physical infrastructure behind the system. Once operational, the range will function as a controlled environment where students can practice cybersecurity techniques without targeting outside computer systems. The exercises will follow what the cybersecurity industry commonly calls red-team and blue-team operations. Red teams act as attackers and attempt to identify and exploit vulnerabilities, while blue teams defend the systems, monitor activity and respond to attempted intrusions. Curington compared the concept to the more familiar distinction between black-hat and white-hat hackers but said students will use the red-team and blue-team terminology. Students will not remain on one side. “We’ll switch from attackers to defenders,” Curington said. “Everyone will have a chance to attack. Everyone will have a