1st Edition
The Cybersecurity Game Master From Role Playing Games to Tabletop Exercises that Engage and Inspire
Part 1: From Facilitator to Cybersecurity Game Master. Chapter 1: The Purpose of Tabletop Exercises. What is a tabletop exercise (TTX)?. The documents. No documents? No problem!. References. Chapter 2: Planning and Running a TTX. Using NIST800-61 to drive TTX design. TTX Example 1. Using the MITRE ATT&CK framework to articulate realistic threats. TTX Example 2. Limitations of TTX in a corporate environment. References. Chapter 3: An Introduction to Gamification, Fun, and Role-Playing Games. Understanding Players and "Fun". The Origins of Role-Playing Games. The Inner Workings of an RPG. References. Chapter 4: Putting the RPG into the TTX. The Cybersecurity RPG Classes. Stats and Skills. Applying the System. RPG-TTX Example: Data Breach. Chapter 5: Making the most out of an RPG-TTX. Creating Relevant and Engaging Cybersecurity Quests. How to debrief players. How to Measure Success: a Cybersecurity Game Master's Perspective. Intermezzo - Chapter 6: Expert Interviews. Prof. Dr. Agostino Bruzzone, University of Genoa. Ms. Francesca Bosco, Cyber Peace Institute. Part 2: Sample Documents and Quests. Chapter 7: The Documents. Incident Response Plan (IRP). Incident Playbook: Distributed Denial of Service (DDOS) Attack. Incident Playbook: Malware Infection via Phishing. Incident Playbook: Ransomware Attack. Chapter 8: The Great Blackout: a DDOS Crisis. The Quest. Comments and Additional Ideas. Chapter 9: The Silent Intruder: a Spear-Phishing APT Attack. The Quest. Comments and Additional Ideas. Chapter 10: To RDP or not to RDP? A Ransomware Crisis. The Quest. Comments and Additional Ideas. Appendix A: Incident Response Plan Template. Appendix B: Incident Playbook Template. Appendix C: RPG-TTX Character Sheet. Appendix D: Pre-Rolled Characters.
Biography
Associate Professor Roberto Dillon is an (ISC)² Professional Member, an IEEE Senior Member, and the author of six books published by A.K. Peters, CRC Press, and Springer. He holds a Master's and a Ph.D. degree in Computer Engineering from the University of Genoa, a MicroMasters Certificate in Cybersecurity from the Rochester Institute of Technology, and a Certificate in Higher Education Teaching from Harvard University.
Currently, he serves as the Academic Head for the School of Science and Technology at James Cook University's Singapore Campus, where he established a dedicated Cybersecurity degree program in 2020 and founded Southeast Asia's first permanent Computer Games Museum in 2013. Before joining JCU, he held academic positions in institutions such as The Royal Institute of Technology (KTH), Nanyang Technological University, and the DigiPen Institute of Technology.
A keen supporter and developer of FOSS (Free Open-Source Software), his research interests focus on serious games design and on different areas of cybersecurity such as UEBA (User and Entity Behavior Analytics), OSINT (Open-Source Intelligence), and threat intelligence. As a professor and educator, he is also very passionate about enhancing capacity building for the next generation of cybersecurity experts in Southeast Asia by designing new curricula and innovative gamified training tools. Feel free to reach out via his homepage: https://robertodillon.nicepage.io
