Q&A

How Does User Emulation Work in Cybersecurity Training?

Organizations face a growing number of threats, and effectively managing them is critical. While organizations can protect themselves in several ways, cybersecurity training remains a central component for creating a strong defense and response.

User emulation has become a valuable practice in cybersecurity training. There are several ways this practice is put to use, but overall, the goal is to emulate it to mimic the behavior of real users. 

How can your cybersecurity training benefit from integrating with user emulation? We’ll be exploring what this method is and how it works with your overall training programs to improve training outcomes.

The Role of User Emulation in Cybersecurity Training

User emulation is the simulation of real-world user actions within a controlled training environment. This form of emulation can range from replicating the behavior of a typical employee logging into their system to mimicking the actions of a potential attacker.

With user emulation, training programs can introduce realistic scenarios into their cybersecurity training programs to help prepare personnel for recognizing, responding to, and containing threats before they cause severe damage.

User emulation equips teams with valuable first-hand knowledge of how an employee may make a mistake that enables a cyber attack or what network traffic may look like during a DDoS attack. A wide variety of possible scenarios can be evaluated, understood, and contained in a practice scenario to help teams better secure the organization.

Types of User Emulation Scenarios

What types of cybersecurity training scenarios might benefit from user emulation? There is a wide variety of possible applications of this technology, including the following:

  • Insider threats: This category involves emulating the behavior of a malicious insider — someone within the organization attempting to steal sensitive data or disrupt operations. Cybersecurity teams can learn to recognize unusual access patterns or data transfers that may indicate insider activity by simulating this behavior. Primary user emulation attacks go far in detecting this type of activity.
  • Phishing and social engineering:  Emulating phishing attempts and social engineering tactics helps employees recognize the subtle signs of these attacks, especially those who don’t work in security. Cybersecurity training programs often send simulated phishing emails to employees to test whether they can identify and report suspicious messages.
  • External attacker emulation: These scenarios replicate the actions of external hackers attempting to infiltrate a system, exploit vulnerabilities, or disrupt services. Security teams can use these simulations to practice identifying suspicious network traffic, tracing intrusion points, and stopping potential breaches.

Network behavior analysis: Regular network users generate a pattern of behavior based on their roles, like accessing certain files or using specific applications. Emulating this behavior helps set up baselines that can be compared against live network activity. Any deviation from the norm can trigger alerts, signaling potential security issues. These simulations help IT teams understand what anomalous traffic looks like and how to respond to alerts from monitoring systems.

  • Malware and ransomware attacks: Simulating the introduction of malware or ransomware allows teams to practice detecting and mitigating these threats. These training exercises can involve identifying early signs of an attack, isolating infected systems, and restoring data from backups.

Each scenario aims to give cybersecurity teams and other personnel hands-on experience, ultimately enhancing their ability to identify and rapidly respond to real-world threats.

Implementing User Emulation in Cybersecurity Training

How can you integrate user emulation with your overall cybersecurity training programs? Integrating this technology requires careful planning and having the right tools available. You can get started implementing user emulation in your cybersecurity training programs with the following high-level overview:

  1. Begin by defining the training scope based on your unique risks and needs. Understand which types of attacks and activity should be emulated based on your current risk landscape.
  2. Evaluate how the specific vendor offers user emulation and whether it meets your needs. An ideal platform will replicate benign user behavior and potential threat activity, allowing employees and security teams to train in a realistic but safe setting. 
  3. For effective implementation, the program should focus on creating a balance between automated user emulation and human-led analysis. An entirely automated system can still be effective, but human involvement often increases total effectiveness.
  4. Cybersecurity training programs must ensure user emulation scenarios are as varied and dynamic as possible. Threats in the real world evolve, and so should the training — make sure your vendor can keep up.
  5. Before signing up, ensure the chosen vendor can integrate with your virtual lab platform and function as expected.

User emulation is a powerful tool in cybersecurity training, allowing organizations to prepare their employees and security teams for real-world threats. Taking the time to implement this technology can go far in bolstering security and resilience.