Happy Birthday, CYBER.ORG Range! Celebrating One Year and Reaching All 50 States

Laurie Salvail

Executive Director of CYBER.ORG

Laurie leads the CYBER.ORG team as they seek to bring cyber education to K-12 teachers. She has over 12 years classroom experience and is currently working on her PhD in curriculum and instruction at Louisiana State University. She is passionate about implementing innovative research-based strategies to impact education across the country.

Nov 8, 2023

In November 2022, we launched the first-of-its-kind CYBER.ORG Range in partnership with Louisiana Governor John Bel Edwards and the Cybersecurity Infrastructure and Security Agency (CISA). Designed to lower the access barriers to the cybersecurity profession, the CYBER.ORG Range is a no-cost, safe, virtual environment where K-12 students can practice cybersecurity skills.

A year later, we’re celebrating the first anniversary of the Range and an exciting milestone – the Range has reached all 50 states!

Made possible with initial funding from the state of Louisiana and expanded by CISA under the leadership of Director Jen Easterly, the Range has been leveraged by over 2,000 teachers in high school classrooms and over 30,000 student accounts in just one year. CYBER.ORG Range differs from other industry ranges as it makes learning cybersecurity easier for teachers and students alike who want to increase their confidence in cyber education and explore the field. The Range is also available for students who have had no prior knowledge in cybersecurity.

We’ve partnered with multiple organizations including The National Cyber Scholarship Foundation, to add virtual machines to the CYBER.ORG Range. The Range demonstrates our commitment to increasing cybersecurity awareness among students and educators and is actively helping train the next generation of cybersecurity professionals for successful entry into industry careers.

The Range operates in a sandboxed cloud-based environment and all of the virtual machines can be accessed via a web browser. No additional hardware or software is necessary to use the Range so educators can intuitively lead their students through labs, allowing them to experience cyberattacks in a safe and controlled virtual environment. Students can access real-world tools that combat common cyberattacks and learn how to defend against them in real-time.

The labs in CYBER.ORG’s Cybersecurity Course are designed to prepare students for the CompTIA Security+ Exam, which provides students with a springboard to intermediate-level cybersecurity jobs. Security+ incorporates best practices in hands-on troubleshooting, guaranteeing candidates have practical security problem-solving skills. All labs in the CYBER.ORG Cybersecurity Course can be completed on the Range.

With over 570,000 open cybersecurity positions in the U.S. and increasing cyberattacks in both public and private sectors, the Range is critical to expanding access to cybersecurity education and ensuring all students have the skills needed to enter the cybersecurity workforce successfully. CYBER.ORG looks forward to the continued success of the Range in the next year and beyond.

To learn more about the CYBER.ORG Range and to apply, visit https://cyber.org/range.