News story: Dstl wins against commercial teams in Institution of Engineering and Technology Awards

A team at the Defence Science and Technology Laboratory (Dstl) has won an award for their work in cyber security. Comedian Sally Phillips presented the awards to winners chosen from more than 350 entries at a special event earlier this month, where Dstl’s Cyber Card Game won the Institution of Engineering and Technology (IET) award in the cyber security category, sponsored by Fraser-Nash Consulting.

The Dstl entry uses ‘gamification science’ – a card-game-based approach to teach about cyber security without them needing any technical expertise, or even a computer. People being trained are asked to work together as a team to attack a fictional organisation, using and obtaining access, hidden information and other resources, and in doing so they gain a deeper understanding of how to protect an organisation from cyber-attack.

In just two hours, the Cyber Card Game approach provides in-depth training suitable for both employees and senior managers. As the game only uses open source, abstracted attack techniques, there is no security classification associated.

The lead scientist at Dstl, said:

We were up against commercial companies so this award demonstrates how Dstl’s work is competitive in this field. The card game was a result of many months of hard work by the team.

It increases education and awareness of the fundamentals of cyber-security. This area is of growing importance and we must be ahead of the curve when it comes to looking at the risks for defence and for wider security.

Around 80% of cyber breaches can be accounted for by the lack of implementation of cyber fundamentals, like being able to avoid basic phishing attacks. The Cyber Card Game is advertised for licence at no cost through Dstl’s Easy Access IP scheme

A spokesperson from the IET Cyber Security Award judging panel said:

Congratulations on winning one of our 2018 IET Innovation Awards! You were recognised as a cut above our incredibly competitive shortlist and we hope you will enjoy your win as much as we enjoyed judging all the wonderful entries.