Rapid7 and USF Collaborate on Cyber Training Initiative With $1.5 Million Grant From Office of Naval Research and National Science Foundation
September 07 2023 - 9:00AM
Rapid7, Inc. (NASDAQ: RPD), a leader in cloud risk and threat
detection, today announced that the company’s proprietary threat
data is powering a new research initiative investigating a better
way to train cyber operators for maximum readiness. In partnership
with the University of South Florida (USF), this effort will be
boosted by over $1.5M funding from the Office of Naval Research
(ONR) and the National Science Foundation (NSF).
In addition to providing incident data and intelligence
collected from Rapid7’s global honeypot network, Rapid7 is
dedicating personnel to facilitate the research effort and will
play an instrumental role in helping USF researchers understand how
the data and intelligence traces the path of real-world scenarios
as they are analyzed in a security operations center (SOC).
“The best way to learn in a SOC environment is to get first-hand
experience with threat actors’ tactics, techniques, and procedures
— or TTPs,” said Raj Samani, senior vice president and chief
scientist, Rapid7. “We expect the funding from ONR and NSF to help
us achieve significant results through this research initiative,
including the ability to implement world-class training programs
that fully prepare the next generation of cyber practitioners.”
Through an evidence-based cyber training initiative with a
companion research framework, cyber analysts will engage with
scenarios and challenges found in real-world security operations
centers, and researchers will gauge how these scenarios improve
decision-making capabilities in the face of agile adversaries.
“Replicating realistic attack scenarios an analyst may face in
operations is a critical aspect of this research, as it allows us
to uncover effective training methods that eventually will matter
in the trench,” said Xinming Ou, USF professor of computer science
and engineering and principal investigator of the research. “Our
partnership with Rapid7 is instrumental in making this research
vision possible.”
Ou is closely working with Prof. Daniel Lende from the USF
anthropology department and a co-principal investigator of the
project. Ou noted, “cyber operation is essentially a human activity
and I am extremely fortunate to have professor Lende on the team so
we can adopt rigorous human study research methodologies. It also
highlights the multidisciplinary nature of the USF-Rapid7
partnership.”
The U.S. National Science Foundation is an independent federal
agency that supports science and engineering in all 50 states and
U.S. territories. Its mission is to promote the progress of
science, advance the national health, prosperity and welfare, and
secure the national defense.
"The USF/Rapid7 project is unique in that it uses real-world
cyber threat data as the basis to derive scenarios to drive cyber
training research,” said Victor Piotrowski, Lead Program Director
at National Science Foundation. "This type of experiential learning
holds great promise to expedite the workforce development urgently
needed to secure the nation's cyber infrastructure."
“SOC teams serve as an organization’s offense and defense, and
their effective training is a universal challenge,” Samani added.
“By partnering with USF and sharing our threat data and expertise,
we intend to help this initiative’s stakeholders and the greater
cyber community make significant strides in this area.”
The cyber training research initiative is being undertaken by
the Rapid7 Cyber Threat Intelligence Lab at USF. Announced in
February of this year, the lab is a joint endeavor between Rapid7
and USF to drive a deeper understanding of the cybersecurity threat
landscape through shared expertise, data, and technological
capabilities.
Learn about additional Rapid7 research initiatives at
https://www.rapid7.com/research/.
About Rapid7Rapid7, Inc. (NASDAQ: RPD) is on a
mission to create a safer digital world by making cybersecurity
simpler and more accessible. We empower security professionals to
manage a modern attack surface through our best-in-class
technology, leading-edge research, and broad, strategic expertise.
Rapid7’s comprehensive security solutions help more than 11,000
global customers unite cloud risk management and threat detection
to reduce attack surfaces and eliminate threats with speed and
precision. For more information, visit our website, check out our
blog, or follow us on LinkedIn or Twitter.
About the University of South FloridaThe
University of South Florida, a high-impact research university
dedicated to student success and committed to community engagement,
generates an annual economic impact of more than $6 billion. With
campuses in Tampa, St. Petersburg and Sarasota-Manatee, USF serves
approximately 50,000 students who represent nearly 150 different
countries. For four consecutive years, U.S. News & World Report
has ranked USF as one of the nation’s top 50 public universities,
including USF’s highest ranking ever in 2023 (No. 42). In 2023, USF
became the first public university in Florida in nearly 40 years to
be invited to join the Association of American Universities, a
prestigious group of the leading universities in the United States
and Canada. Through hundreds of millions of dollars in research
activity each year and as one of top universities in the world for
securing new patents, USF is a leader in solving global problems
and improving lives. USF is a member of the American Athletic
Conference. Learn more at www.usf.edu.
Rapid7 Media RelationsStacey HolleranSr.
Product & Research Communications Managerpress@rapid7.com(857)
216-7804
Rapid7 Research Program ContactMartin
McKeayPrincipal Program Managerresearch@rapid7.com(863)
331-5250
Rapid7 Investor ContactElizabeth
ChwalkDirector, Investor Relationsinvestors@rapid7.com(617)
865-4277
USF Media RelationsAlthea JohnsonDirector of
Media Relationsaltheapaul@usf.edu(813) 974-1665
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