- Thank you for your patience. The response below is based on DAU instructor experience with the cyber ranges:
- They usually have emulations of representative network environments and specialized systems (platforms and weapons systems).
- These emulations could be from a virtualization of assets or a representative configured sample of the platform.
- Live assets could possibly be used, such as an aircraft sitting on the ground - but only with extreme caution.
- The purpose of the range is to conduct cyber testing on the assets. This helps mitigate risks associated with cyber operational testing on open operational networks.
- If a real asset was used, it would need to be able to be reset to a known trusted state.
- Aircraft, weapons systems, or other platforms tend to be either representations (such as a virtualization of the asset) or a configured and managed representation of the platform on the cyber range.
- A virtualization or the configured version of the platform could provide the required information for the cyber testing, but not expose operational assets or networks to an unnecessary risk.
-- Updated Sep 22, 2016 --