ONLINE EDUCATIONAL INCIDENT RESPONSE TRAINING: VIRTUAL WORLDS AS A COST EFFECTIVE TOOL FOR HOMELAND AND CYBER SECURITY.

J. ABRAMSON, M. DAWSON, and D. BESSETTE. Department of Computer Science, Post University, 800 Country Club Road, Waterbury, CT, 06708.

AbstractCritical incident leadership and planning is an important topic in the field of

homeland security. Within this field are many challenges. For the purposes of t his forum only two shall be discussed. The two challenges related to critical incident leadership and planning is the ability to learn in a simulated environment and funding. The first challenge surrounds learning as there is a significant cost associated in providing a real life scenarios where employees can learn. Employees need to understand how they should react in a simulated process to ensure that they can perform in the real event. This simulated scenario also allows an independent group to measure the effectiveness of the incident response manager. An inexpensive and effective method to do this would be through the utilization of Second Life (SL). SL is one of the most popular virtual world provides a unique and secure teaching and learning environment for instructors and students. This learning environment could be designed to be private for a specific response group or incident where each avatar assigned to a unique name could include the name of group name that the individual is belong to. The second issue, which surrounds funding, directly correlates with the capabilities and readiness to respond to a group. To properly correct this one would need to find a method to assign funding needs to risks or events that are most likely to occur.

Associated Research• Dawson, M., Marwan, O., & Abramson, J. (2014) Understanding the Methods Behind Cyber Terrorism.

Encyclopedia of Information Science & Technology 3rd Edition. • Dawson, M., Omar, M., Abramson, J., & Bessette, D. (2014). The Future of National and International

Security on the Internet. Information Security in Diverse Computing Environments. • Dawson, M., Al Saeed, I., Wright, J., & Onyegbula, F. (2014) Open Source Software to Enhance the

STEM Learning Environment. Encyclopedia of Education and Technology.• Dawson Jr., M. E., Crespo, M., & Brewster, S. (2013). DoD cyber technology policies to secure automated

information systems. International Journal of Business Continuity and Risk Management, 4(1), 1-22. • Omar, M., & Dawson, M. (2013, April). Research in Progress-Defending Android Smartphones from

Malware Attacks. In Advanced Computing and Communication Technologies (ACCT), 2013 Third International Conference on (pp. 288-292). IEEE.

• Burrell, D. N., Dawson, M., Quisenberry, W., Finch, A., & Goliday, A. (2012). AN EXPLORATION OF GOVERNMENT TALENT MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES FOR INFORMATION ASSURANCE AND CYBER-SECURITY EMPLOYEES IN ORGANIZATIONS WITH PUBLIC HEALTH AND SAFETY MISSIONS. Journal of Knowledge & Human Resource Management, 4(8).

• Onyegbula, F., Dawson, M., & Stevens, J. (2011). UNDERSTANDING THE NEED AND IMPORTANCE OF THE CLOUD COMPUTING ENVIRONMENT WITHIN THE NATIONAL INSTITUTE OF FOOD AND AGRICULTURE, AN AGENCY OF THE UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF AGRICULTURE. Journal of Information Systems Technology & Planning, 4(8).

• Dawson, M. (2011, February). Applicability of web 2.0: Training for tactical military applications. In Global TIME (Vol. 2011, No. 1, pp. 395-398).

• Dawson, M., & Rahim, E. (2011). Transitional leadership in the defence and aerospace industry: a critical analysis for recruiting and developing talent. International Journal of Project Organisation and Management, 3(2), 164-183.

Second Life (SL): Map/Location

SL: Map/Location

Identification of Key Targets

Weather Discussions – Business Continuity & Disaster Recovery Planning

Interactive Walkthroughs

SL: Campsite Mock Up

SL: Equipment Training

SL: MOSES Interrogation Scenario

OpenSimulator (OpenSIM)

Viewers

3D Studio Max

Blender

Scenario Planning

Key Terms