About the Michigan Cyber Range

• Michigan built this flexible cybersecurity range and program to meet the 21st century needs of critical infrastructure defense, homeland security, criminal justice and education. Cybersecurity differs from other technical disciplines in that it involves a critically thinking, adaptive adversary. The best way to improve defensive capabilities in this area is to practice against those adversaries. To meet this need, we chose the Merit Network to begin operating a cybersecurity range and program. The project is a public-private collaboration that includes government, the National Guard, universities, community colleges, K-12 schools and private industry.
• The Michigan Cyber Range is a program that leverages the physical range to develop world-class cybersecurity professionals. There is a full program of meetings and workshops as well as tools to develop and promulgate best practices in cybersecurity training and cybersecurity itself. The range is used for individual as well as collective training. The staff are experts in the best and most current practices of cybersecurity training and are focused on meeting the specific needs of the people and organizations that use the range.
• The Michigan Cyber Range provides students and IT professionals with a solid foundation in cybersecurity through challenging hands-on coursework, exercises and labs. Courses are aligned with the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s National Initiative for Cybersecurity Education (NICE). The NICE framework organizes the skills that America’s cybersecurity workforce needs to meet the national preparedness goals of detecting, mitigating and defeating malicious actors. It engages all levels of the workforce, presenting essential concepts, techniques and practices based on individual functions within the organization.