EZSetup: A Novel Tool for Cybersecurity Practices Utilizing Cloud Resources

Recent years have witnessed fast growth of interests and efforts in developing systems and tools for cybersecurity practices, especially with the rapid advancement of cloud computing. However, those systems either suffer from issues in scalability, customization and setup complexity or are constrained by a specific cloud technology and limited customization support. In this paper, we present a novel Web based tool called EZSetup that can create and manage user-defined virtual environments for various types of cybersecurity practices on demand and at scale. Distinct from previous cloud-based systems, EZSetup does not rely on a particular type of cloud platform or technology. It is able to interact with multiple clouds and instantiate virtual environments in multiple clouds simultaneously. EZSetup allows for easy customization and significantly reduces the overhead in creating and using practice environments through carefully designed Web interfaces. The experimental results are quite positive in general and indicate that EZSetup can also be applicable to other computer science and engineering subjects.