Cyber threat hunting has emerged as a critical part of cybersecurity practice. However, there is a severe shortage of cybersecurity professionals with advanced analysis skills for cyber threat hunting. Sponsored by NSA, the University of North Carolina at Charlotte (UNC Charlotte) and Forsyth Technical Community College (Forsyth Tech) have been developing hands-on teaching materials for cyber threat hunting that will expand our current strong educational programs in cybersecurity. UNC Charlotte is designated as a Center of Academic Excellence in Information Assurance Education-Cyber Defense, and a Center of Academic Excellence in Information Assurance Research by NSA and DHS, and has an NSF funded IUCRC in Configuration Analytics and Automation.

Since 2001, UNC Charlotte has run the Carolina Cyber Defender Scholarship Program, one of the largest such programs in the United States, with funding from NSF and NSA. Forsyth Tech was awarded the Center of Academic Excellence (CAE 2Y) Cyber Defense designation in June 2015. In this effort, Forsyth Technical Community College has established the Davis ITEC Cyber Center. We are developing freely-available, hands-on teaching materials for cyber threat hunting suitable for use in two-year community college curriculum, 4-year universities curriculum, as well as for collegiate threat hunting competitions. Our project fits nicely into the NICE 2018 theme of “Innovations in Cybersecurity Education, Training, and Workforce Development,” with a focus on “Accelerate Learning and Skills Development” defined by the NICE Strategic Plan.