Guidance

Licensing Opportunity: Cyber Card Game

Published 31 May 2018

The Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) Cyber Red Team Game was developed as a research innovation by-product during Dstl cyber resilience advice to UK critical national infrastructure (CNI) and military platforms.

The rationale is that that those defending cyber-enabled critical national infrastructure or military enterprise systems will benefit from learning to think like an attacker. By playing the attacker within an unclassified scenario environment, the defender is able to better understand the actions required to increase cyber resilience.

The game is facilitated using a suitably experienced trainer with experience and knowledge of cyber fundamentals. There is no need to have a military background. The game can be played in as little as 2 hours (engagement version) or can be expanded to ‘campaign mode’ (several 2+ hour sessions).

Key benefits

A key benefit is faster leaning regarding the hands-on, collaborative approach. The game bypasses the technical specifics, allowing players to focus on what is happening, not how.

The game can also be used to train conventional staff of any commercial organisation, allowing better-informed cyber risk management in their own departments. This is particularly key when considering new rules on data protection and protection of critical national infrastructure.

Applications

Though designed as a training tool, internal and external feedback suggests that the game can be sold as a game in its own right; that is, as a board game for domestic use. This will require additional investment.

Intellectual property (IP) status

The intellectual property (IP) being offered for licence is a pack of Crown Copyright materials, including a number of card decks, several scenario boards, rule documentation and guidelines for running a campaign.

Commercial opportunity

The methodology could form either a core element, or a secondary element, of a business that offers cyber training for the following markets:

• training the staff of an organisation so that they gain insight into an attacker’s mindset, gain deeper understanding of extant cyber threats and how to defend and mitigate them
• training recruits for cyber teams in order to understand cyber strategies, scenarios and team roles

There is scope to support a franchise business model selling training kits and offering to accredit trainers.

There is also scope for marketing and selling this as a game in its own right, purely for domestic and social use.

How to license this technology

Find out how to access Dstl-owned intellectual property available under the Easy Access IP scheme.

For more information contact dstleasyip@dstl.gov.uk