Signal Technology-Enhanced Tabletop Exercises for Cybersecurity Education: Lessons Learned

Summary

A paper examines the integration of technology-enhanced tabletop exercises (TTXs) into cybersecurity curricula in computing education, motivated by the need to prepare students for the coordination, communication, and timely decision-making required in incident response and IT governance. The authors note that while TTXs are well established in professional practice, they remain underused in universities. To address this gap, they used a web-based environment called the INJECT Exercise Platform (IXP), which automates scenario delivery, facilitates team discussion, and collects interaction data to support automated assessment. From 2024 to 2026, the researchers ran 25 exercises with 743 participants across multiple university courses and extracurricular events. They observed increased student engagement and collaboration, along with clearer visibility for instructors into how teams navigated complex scenarios. The paper shares 24 specific lessons learned intended to guide instructors and curriculum designers integrating similar exercises, and has been accepted for the main track of the IEEE FIE 2026 conference.