Hands-on training in industrial cybersecurity for a multidisciplinary Master's degree
Miguel Angel Prada, Juan Jose Fuertes, José Ramón Rodríguez Ossorio, Raúl González-Herbón, Guzmán González-Mateos, Manuel Domínguez · IFAC-PapersOnLine · 2023
As a response to the scarcity of workforce with essential competences for Industry 4.0, academic institutions are making an effort to propose specialized educational programs. In this context of digitalization, industrial cybersecurity is an increasingly important aspect. Nevertheless, industrial cybersecurity is a challenging topic that requires the understanding of both information technologies and the operation of industrial facilities. Furthermore, practical training requires realistic environments to be useful. For this reason, in this work, we present a hands-on activity on a remotely accessible training platform to complement the theoretical concepts of a Master's degree course that deals with the introduction to industrial cybersecurity. This platform presents the students a realistic automation environment with industrial hardware and software. The educational experience has been assessed with regard to the students’ perception and its technical operation. The platform was found useful for learning and motivating, although the perceived degree of difficulty needs to be adjust to promote students’ self-confidence.