FlexLabs™: Closing the Cyber Skills Gap
FlexLabs™: Closing the Cyber Skills Gap
Cloud Range has recently expanded its FlexLabs offering to more than 1,500 different courses and modules.
You didn’t know we had labs? Yeah, we get that.
We are known for our live-fire simulation missions for teams. We realized that our labs weren’t getting their time in the spotlight, and now that we have greatly expanded the number and types of labs, we want to re-introduce you to FlexLabs.
FlexLabs
FlexLabs cyber skills training and development solutions help reduce the gap between what a job role requires someone to know and do and what they actually can accomplish. During team missions in the cyber range, our instructors evaluate each individual, assessing weaknesses and strengths and giving suggestions for how to improve. We also assess the team dynamics and the role-based duties (such as Incident Commander) to help the team operate more effectively.
Learning plans and objectives can also be created apart from evaluation in the cyber range. We work directly with CISOs, SOC managers, and other security leaders to outline customized learning paths and goals for users.
With FlexLabs, learners of all experience levels now have a place to go to close the skills gap.
FlexLabs have three categories:
Training Labs
Challenge Labs
Skills Assessments
Training Labs
FlexLabs Training Labs cover the major domains in cybersecurity, as noted in the screenshot, and all labs are mapped to the NICE Workforce Framework. These labs range from 1-4 hours in length and are designed to help users skill up on a given tool or in a specific area. They range in complexity from cybersecurity awareness to assembly language programming, and they will populate a learner’s path in our Performance Portal.
Cloud Range FlexLabs has Certification Prep SkillPaks tied directly to objectives from leading industry certifying bodies such as CompTIA and ISC2. These SkillPaks are offered in groupings tied to the CompTIA Network+, Security+, PenTest+, the EC-Council Certified Ethical Hacker certification, and the Certified Information Systems Security Professional (CISSP) certification from ISC2.
As learners move through the labs, the learning plan updates automatically to show completion. Plus, if users are also involved in live-fire team missions, Cloud Range’s instructors will update the individual’s competencies to reflect their improved performance and capabilities within the range.
Challenge Labs
Challenge Labs are just what they sound like – challenging! They are not used to teach, but to validate someone’s knowledge, skills, and abilities. Topics include things like automating database tasks, configuring and controlling network traffic, using group policies, using password cracking utilities, and more. Challenge Labs are shorter in length – typically around 30 minutes.
FlexLabs users earn badges and certificates that can be submitted for continuing professional education (CPE) credits.
Skills Assessments
Skills Assessments are comprehensive assessments that closely align with NICE work roles. They give the learner an opportunity to demonstrate an entire skill set, such as responding to an incident and completing a report. The learner’s performance is assessed, and a detailed report provides an overview of strengths and weaknesses. It also outlines suggested topics and FlexLabs for continued development.
Close the Skills Gap
There are over 1,500 FlexLabs in total, accessible on-demand 24/7. Because the interactive environments include actual operating systems and complex networks, users gain real-world experience.
Every lab maps to the industry-standardized NICE Workforce Framework’s set of knowledge, skills, and abilities. That allows learners to select the NICE work role or SkillPak that best fits their current job, desired future role, or career goals, and follow the learning path to upskill and advance.
FlexLabs helps to close the skills gap, giving users enhanced proficiencies, critical thinking, and judgment skills. That’s why organizations that provide hands-on cybersecurity skills development see improved incident response times and reduced risk.
What are you waiting for? Get started today with FlexLabs!