Monday 10 March 2025
As cybersecurity professionals, we’re constantly seeking ways to improve our skills and stay ahead of emerging threats. One effective approach is through hands-on training in simulated environments that mimic real-world scenarios. This is where cyber polygons come in – virtualized labs that allow us to test, train, and analyze various attack vectors without putting actual systems at risk.
But what makes a good cyber polygon? For starters, it needs to be scalable, reliable, and secure. A hypervisor-based solution is often the way to go, as it provides a high level of isolation between virtual machines and ensures that resources are efficiently allocated. Type 1 hypervisors, in particular, work directly with the hardware, providing higher performance and reliability compared to their Type 2 counterparts.
VMware ESXi is one such example of a Type 1 hypervisor that’s well-suited for creating a cyber polygon. With its high-performance virtualization capabilities, scalability, and reliability, it provides an ideal foundation for deploying virtual machines and simulating attacks. The hypervisor also supports features like vMotion, which allows you to move virtual machines between physical servers without interrupting their operation.
Microsoft Hyper-V is another option worth considering. As a Type 1 hypervisor developed by Microsoft, it integrates seamlessly with other Windows-based systems and provides powerful virtualization capabilities. Its live migration feature ensures that virtual machines can be moved between physical servers without downtime, making it an excellent choice for large-scale training exercises.
Xen, an open-source Type 1 hypervisor developed at the University of Cambridge, is also a viable option. With its ability to support different virtualization models and hardware architectures, Xen provides unparalleled flexibility and scalability. Its integration with QEMU, a versatile emulator that allows you to create virtual machines on diverse hardware platforms, further enhances its capabilities.
When it comes to building a cyber polygon, routers with firewall functionality are essential components. Cisco CSR1000v, IPFire, OPNsense, pfSense, MikroTik CHR, Juniper Cloud-Native Router, FortiGate VM, and Palo Alto VM-Series are all viable options that provide advanced security features and configuration capabilities.
A well-designed cyber polygon should also include a centralized management interface for monitoring and controlling virtual machines, network infrastructure, and storage systems. This allows administrators to easily manage the lab environment, monitor system activity, and analyze incident response scenarios.
Cite this article: “Building a Comprehensive Cyber Polygon: A Guide to Hypervisors and Infrastructure Components”, The Science Archive, 2025.
Hypervisor, Type 1, Virtualization, Cyber Polygon, Vmware Esxi, Microsoft Hyper-V, Xen, Open-Source, Router, Firewall, Centralized Management
Reference: Dmytro Tymoshchuk, Vasyl Yatskiv, “Using hypervisors to create a cyber polygon” (2025).
