Automation of a cyber range

The number of cyber-attacks is increasing as our environment becomes more digitalized. Cybersecurity experts are required to counter these attacks but the current number of cybersecurity specialists is insufficient. The patterns and complexities of attack are also changing and may target resources/data that were previously not accessible or considered exploitable. As a result, it is become critical to offer the best learning environment to cybersecurity experts as well as properly teaching future cybersecurity specialists and place them in the best possible environments, as close to real-world scenarios as feasible. The best way to gain experience is through the use of tools and techniques used to attack and protect vulnerable systems. Practical lab work, pre-configured hacking challenges, Capture the Flag (CTF), and pre-configured virtual machines are the most frequent ways to address these objectives. All of these practices are beneficial to learning and allow students, as well as specialists, to test and gain experience in simulated scenarios. However, developing these solutions can be time consuming and once a solution has been found or it's purpose has been completed, it became outdated and useless. Another popular solution is cyber ranges. Although these do not escape the disadvantages stated, they are dynamic, simulated networks of systems, software, and applications. Cyber range can assist in the promotion of cybersecurity education, training, and certification. The objective of this thesis is to develop a tool to overcome the stated problems and to provide a vulnerable environment that can be used by students. This tool allows the automatic generation of a cyber range. This vulnerable system is generated by using the publicly known vulnerabilities and exposures (CVE) and the Vagrant tool. These tools allow the creation of a vulnerable machine as well as its post-creation modification.