GHOSTS in the Machine: Orchestrating a Realistic Cybersecurity Exercise Battlefield

This presentation provides an overview of the non-player character framework called “General HOSTS,” or GHOSTS, that the SEI developed to improve the realism of cyber-training environments. GHOSTS enables cyber-training participants to interact with simulated characters that behave realistically without human intervention. This presentation gives technical details about how GHOSTS works. It also discusses the benefits of building cyber-training environments with a tool that convincingly simulates realistic network traffic, such as ensuring fuller engagement from participants in cyber exercises.