Exploring Cybersecurity Hands-on Labs in Pervasive Computing: Design, Assessment, and Reflection
- Conference
- Location
-
Portland, Oregon
- Publication Date
-
June 23, 2024
- Start Date
-
June 23, 2024
- End Date
-
June 26, 2024
- Conference Session
- Tagged Division
-
Computers in Education Division (COED)
- Tagged Topic
-
Diversity
- Page Count
-
18
- DOI
-
10.18260/1-2--47402
- Permanent URL
-
https://peer.asee.org/47402
- Download Count
-
137
Paper Authors
Anyi Liu Oakland University
Anyi Liu received his Ph.D. degree in Information Technology from George Mason University, Virginia. He is currently an Associate Professor in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at Oakland University, Michigan, USA. His research interests primarily lie at the intersection of system security, software security, intrusion detection, intrusion prevention, and digital forensics. His research is supported by the National Science Foundation and Michigan Space Grant Consortium. He is a Senior Member of the IEEE.
Bruce R Maxim
University of Michigan, Dearborn
orcid.org/0000-0002-0979-7787
Bruce R. Maxim has worked as a software engineer, project manager, professor, author, and consultant for more than forty years. His research interests include software engineering, human computer interaction, game design, virtual reality, AI
Xiaohong Yuan
North Carolina A&T State University
orcid.org/0000-0002-1295-9812
Dr. Yuan is a professor in the Department of Computer Science at NCA&T. Her research interests include AI and machine learning, anomaly detection, software security, cyber identity, and cyber security education. Her research has been funded by the National Security Agency, the National Centers of Academic Excellence in Cybersecurity (NCAE-C), the National Science Foundation, the Department of Energy, the Department of Education, etc. She has served on the editorial board for several journals on cybersecurity.
Yuan Cheng Grand Valley State University
Dr. Yuan Cheng is currently an associate professor in the School of Computing at Grand Valley State University. Previously, he held a tenured faculty position in the Department of Computer Science at California State University, Sacramento. He earned his Ph.D. in Computer Science from the University of Texas at San Antonio. His educational background also includes a B.Eng. degree in Information Security from Huazhong University of Science and Technology, Wuhan, China. His research interests include access control, authentication, Internet of Things, privacy, and social computing.
Abstract
The increasing demand for versatile and mobile computing has made pervasive computing a crucial component of the high-performance, low-cost computing paradigm for research and education. While existing efforts have developed cybersecurity curricula, platforms, and hands-on labs for cloud, mobile, and Cyber-Physical Systems (CPS), the core properties of pervasive computing remain insufficiently covered. This paper addresses these challenges by comprehensively covering security and privacy in pervasive computing. We develop curricula and hands-on labs that systematically address the essential properties of pervasive computing. Rather than simply combining materials from previous efforts, we compare existing cybersecurity education work and explore intrinsic connections, overlaps, and combinations. Our curricula aim to provide students with a thorough understanding of security and privacy in pervasive computing. We then present the ReScuE, a free and cloud-based cyber range that is scalable, safe, easy to set up and maintain, and facilitates high privileges for educators to oversee students' hands-on practice progress. To facilitate widespread adoption, we develop a set of virtual-machine- and container-based hands-on labs on top of the ReScuE, covering various disciplines of pervasive computing for different educational purposes. Each lab includes progressive hands-on practices, defined knowledge units, and learning outcomes based on the CSEC 2017 Curricular Guidelines, ensuring consistent quality and broader adoption. After iterative development and multiple pilot assessments, we conducted formal evaluations from 2018 to 2022 at two institutions. We define research questions for our pedagogic research through continuous refinement with student feedback. Our study demonstrates that the ReScuE labs received high satisfaction ratings from students with diverse ethnic and academic backgrounds before and during the COVID-19 lockdowns. The comprehensive coverage of pervasive computing cybersecurity allows students to learn state-of-the-art research findings, gain hands-on experiences with recent software, and engage with cutting-edge cybersecurity technology. Finally, we share the lessons we learned from our study, make ReScuE lab materials available to the public, and aim to benefit the broader audience of cybersecurity education.
Liu, A., & Maxim, B. R., & Yuan, X., & Cheng, Y. (2024, June), Exploring Cybersecurity Hands-on Labs in Pervasive Computing: Design, Assessment, and Reflection Paper presented at 2024 ASEE Annual Conference & Exposition, Portland, Oregon. 10.18260/1-2--47402
ASEE holds the copyright on this document. It may be read by the public free of charge. Authors may archive their work on personal websites or in institutional repositories with the following citation: © 2024 American Society for Engineering Education. Other scholars may excerpt or quote from these materials with the same citation. When excerpting or quoting from Conference Proceedings, authors should, in addition to noting the ASEE copyright, list all the original authors and their institutions and name the host city of the conference. - Last updated April 1, 2015