"RIT Researchers to Create Serious Video Game for Infrastructure Resilience to Cyberattacks"
Rochester Institute of Technology (RIT) researchers are developing a serious video game to help cities prepare for, prevent, and respond to cyberattacks. The Army Cyber Institute (ACI) at West Point awarded RIT a grant of over $600,000 and selected RIT to design the cyber exercise game and a framework for future development. The game will teach city leaders how multi-sector hacks can impact their city's critical infrastructure. The creators expect that by creating a playable video game and incorporating real-world Geographic Information Systems (GIS) data, the immersive game would increase the resiliency of critical infrastructure and highlight technical and policy interdependencies. The project stems from Jack Voltaic, a tabletop research experiment created in 2016 by the ACI. Several players, including first responders, emergency management, transportation, telecommunications, power, water, finance, the military, and healthcare, would work together in responding to any cyberattacks, developing a framework as they collaborate. The ACI began collaborating with the Army Educational Outreach (AEOP) Apprenticeships and Fellowships program at RIT in 2022 to expand Jack Voltaic with GIS and game-engine capabilities as a proof-of-concept (POC). The multiplayer prototype allowed infrastructure leaders on the blue team to communicate and strengthen their facilities. There was also a red team of malicious actors or cyber adversaries whose objective was to compromise facilities while remaining undetected. The simulation also incorporated GIS data, such as maps and population data. As new threats emerged, leaders could collaborate to determine how to address the problem. This article continues to discuss the ACI at West Point selecting RIT to develop a cyber game for training and education.