DESIGN AND IMPLEMENTATION OF VIRTUAL LABORATORIES FOR CYBERSECURITY EDUCATION IN HIGHER EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS

Abstract

The persistent global shortage of cybersecurity professionals and the inherently practice-oriented nature of the discipline make hands-on laboratory training an indispensable component of cybersecurity education. Traditional physical laboratories, however, impose high capital and maintenance costs, limited accessibility and weak scalability, which is particularly restrictive for regional higher education institutions. This article substantiates an architectural and pedagogical framework for the design and institutional implementation of virtual laboratories for cybersecurity education. The study relies on a comparative analysis of deployment models reported in the international literature — on-premises virtualization, private and public cloud environments, and dedicated cyber range platforms — and on design-based research methodology. As a result, a five-layer reference architecture of a university virtual cybersecurity laboratory is proposed, comprising infrastructure, virtualization and orchestration, scenario, pedagogical integration, and governance layers, together with a three-phase implementation roadmap. The discussion addresses cost–realism trade-offs, scaffolding requirements for novice learners and instructor preparation. The framework is oriented towards the conditions of higher education institutions of Uzbekistan implementing the national digital transformation and cybersecurity agenda.