CREATE, Cyber Research, Experiment and Test Environment, is now operational and it is run by the Israel Inter-University Computation Center (IUCC) at their cyber unit. CREATE is the result of a strategic partnership between the DETER Project, the Israel National Cyber Bureau (INCB), and IUCC. It is a localized version, also referred to as a cluster, of the USC Information Sciences Institute’s (ISI) DETERLab cyber experimentation facility that runs DETER Core. DETER Core is comprised of DETERLab’s operating software that includes cyber testing workbench tools. It enables researchers that have Internet and lab access to conduct complex cybersecurity experiments as part of their research.

CREATE is an important step not only in the evolution of the DETERLab community but also in moving towards a broader set of programs around the vision of Cyber Experimentation of the Future (CEF). While DETER clusters allow for open source contributions back to DETER Core, CEF is built around the concept of an ecosystem of experimental research infrastructure interconnected and transforming through multiple contributions back to research infrastructure, frameworks, and building block extensibility. The partnership between DETERLab and CREATE facilitates early concept demonstrations that will help inform future DETER collaborations and the CEF vision.

Goran Scuric, DETER Strategic Partner Manager, worked closely with Eli Beker and Oren Shani in the development of CREATE. CREATE uses an alternative architecture based on modern hardware elements and it includes advanced build and deployment packages, support for localized interfaces, and documentation along with tutorials. The DETER Core system was enhanced to support newest hardware elements such as disk raids and 10 GB Ethernet. Some features were first enabled and installed on the CREATE testbed, such as the web-enabled container creation and support for Windows containers based on VBox. The collaboration with INCB/IUCC has already triggered discussions and development efforts in a number of technological areas, to include planning for new lab features and on-going innovation. The CREATE documentation site is based on the latest DETER documentation repository and it is in the process of being customized. The IUCC Team is working on improvements to the Learning Management System (LMS) for use in their educational classes on cybersecurity.

Altogether, there are a number of mutually beneficial features being planned and worked on in cooperation with CREATE. Establishing and continuing meaningful collaboration efforts in co-development, in particular with foreign partners, is essential in spreading awareness and usage of DETER Technology. Collaborations, such as with IUCC/INCB, will continue to bring great benefits to knowledge sharing, software codebase enhancements, and expansion and diversity to the DETERLab ecosystem.