A Systematic Review of Cyber Range Taxonomies: Trends, Gaps, and a Proposed Taxonomy

Pilleriin Lillemets (), Nabaa Bashir Jawad, Joseph Kashi, Ahmad Sabah and Nicola Dragoni ()
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Pilleriin Lillemets: DTU Compute, Technical University of Denmark, 2800 Kongens Lyngby, Denmark
Nabaa Bashir Jawad: DTU Compute, Technical University of Denmark, 2800 Kongens Lyngby, Denmark
Joseph Kashi: DTU Compute, Technical University of Denmark, 2800 Kongens Lyngby, Denmark
Ahmad Sabah: DTU Compute, Technical University of Denmark, 2800 Kongens Lyngby, Denmark
Nicola Dragoni: DTU Compute, Technical University of Denmark, 2800 Kongens Lyngby, Denmark

Future Internet, 2025, vol. 17, issue 6, 1-36

Abstract: Cyber ranges have become essential platforms for realistic cybersecurity training, research, and development. Existing taxonomies often describe the functional aspects of cyber ranges—scenario design, team configurations, and evaluation metrics— focusing less on the underlying technologies that enable modern training. In this paper, we highlight the current trends and persistent gaps in the existing literature and propose a taxonomy that decouples functional capabilities from the enabling infrastructure, adding a dedicated Technology dimension. We derived and refined this taxonomy through an iterative literature mapping process, culminating in a proposed taxonomy that highlights key emerging trends such as cyber–physical integration, federation across multiple sites, and AI-driven orchestration. Key findings include the identification of clear convergences and divergences in existing taxonomies and concrete recommendations for future research directions, such as integrating socio-technical considerations and conducting systematic empirical validation. Our framework aims to guide researchers, developers, and practitioners in designing, implementing, and comparing cyber range solutions. An online Taxonomy Mapping Toolkit is developed to allow the cyber ranges research community to take advantage of the proposed taxonomy and build upon it as new advancements emerge.

Keywords: cyber range; cyber range taxonomy; systematic literature review; cyber range classification; cybersecurity training platform (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O3 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2025
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