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Practical cybersecurity education

Cybersecurity labs
built for college
classrooms.

Every student gets a private, ready-to-run lab for each practical. Faculty see who’s stuck during the session, not after. No machines to rebuild between batches.

Piloted with SAKEC’s Cyber Security Department Pre-incubated at VJTI TBI

HackTheFort in 40 seconds · student labs to faculty review

Practical cyber labs should be easier to run and easier to measure.

HackTheFort connects curriculum, lab environments, and faculty visibility in one classroom-ready workflow.

1.

Lab setup

Manual environment prep

Provision and reset practical environments between classes.

2.

Curriculum fit

Practice drifts from the syllabus

Map labs to the subjects and outcomes faculty teach.

3.

Faculty visibility

Completion hides how students work

Review student activity, progress, and validation in one place.

4.

Classroom scale

Every learner needs a reliable workspace

Give each student a private, repeatable lab environment.

HackTheFort's red armored knight mascot, ready to defend hands-on learning

Capabilities shown reflect the current institute platform; outcomes depend on curriculum, lab selection, and how each institute runs its practicals.

Your syllabus.
Your lab.
Clear evidence
of skill.

Run private, repeatable cyber labs without building the infrastructure from scratch.

Private institute-specific labs
Automated deployment and reset
Faculty activity visibility
Time-limited practical assessments
HTF-managed
Institute-hosted
Explore the institute platform
Lab Overview

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Lab Overview

Real-time dashboard showing lab status, team participation, and progress metrics at a glance.

Field Validation

Tested with students inside a real cyber lab.

Students used HackTheFort during a pilot with SAKEC’s Cyber Security Department. HackTheFort is also pre-incubated at VJTI TBI.

VJTI Technology Business Incubator logo

Pre-Incubated At

VJTI TBI

VJTI Technology Business Incubator

Shah & Anchor Kutchhi Engineering College logo

Piloted With

SAKEC

Cyber Security Dept

SAKEC cyber security lab during HackTheFort pilot testing

SAKEC Pilot Testing

Students validating HackTheFort labs during an in-person pilot session.
Student using the HackTheFort platform during pilot testing at SAKEC
Students working through a HackTheFort lab during pilot testing at SAKEC

71

SAKEC students took a timed networking practical exam on HackTheFort in one session. 56 completed every task.

A lab is more than a set of instructions.

Students move from understanding a technical situation to working through it themselves. The guidance becomes lighter as their confidence grows.

Explore our approach
  1. Understand the situation

    Start with the context, the system, and the problem the lab asks you to solve.

  2. Explore with guidance

    Use the relevant tools and environment while building a mental model of what is happening.

  3. Investigate independently

    Troubleshoot, test ideas, and make decisions with less step-by-step direction.

  4. Show what you learned

    Complete an assessment that demonstrates understanding, not just task completion.

Lab domains

One platform. Multiple practical domains.

Networking

Network foundations, packet analysis, routing, switching and troubleshooting environments.

Digital Forensics

Evidence acquisition, integrity verification, deleted-file recovery, static analysis and investigation workflows.

Security Automation & Scripting

Cross-platform automation covering Linux Bash, native Windows PowerShell, Web APIs, and Go security tooling.

DevSecOps

Application, container, CI/CD and secure-development practical environments.

SOC / Blue Team

Log analysis, incident investigation and defensive monitoring scenarios.

OT / ICS Security

A separately developed hardware-in-the-loop track combining simulated processes with real industrial control hardware.

Separate R&D / specialised deployment

Curriculum impact

Curriculum mapped to practical outcomes and SDGs.

Each area below was mapped to SAKEC’s approved laboratory experiments and tested with their students. During your trial, we map the same labs to your syllabus.

CNTested in pilot

Computer Networks

Network foundations covering OSI encapsulation, topologies, Ethernet, IP addressing, routing, VLANs, NAT, and monitoring.

SDG alignment

SDG 9 · Industry, Innovation & Infrastructure

SDG 16 · Peace, Justice & Strong Institutions

TestedUse Wireshark to analyze OSI layer encapsulation.
TestedDesign, configure, and test network topologies and routing.
TestedScan, monitor, and optimize network performance with Nmap.
DFIRTested in pilot

Digital Forensics & Incident Response

Practical investigations using evidence acquisition, metadata, password security, hidden information, and network traffic analysis.

SDG alignment

SDG 9 · Industry, Innovation & Infrastructure

SDG 16 · Peace, Justice & Strong Institutions

TestedAnalyze digital evidence and metadata to identify potential forensic artifacts.
TestedInvestigate password security and hidden information in digital media.
TestedAnalyze network traffic to investigate cyber incidents.
ScheduledAdditional forensic experiments from the approved experiment list.
SLTested in pilot

Scripting Language

Cross-platform security automation spanning Linux Bash, native Windows PowerShell, Web & API security, and Go pipelines.

SDG alignment

SDG 9 · Industry, Innovation & Infrastructure

SDG 16 · Peace, Justice & Strong Institutions

TestedLinux & Bash: User/file integrity monitoring & auth-log threat detection.
TestedPowerShell: Windows process/service auditing & incident response automation.
TestedJavaScript & APIs: Web vulnerability remediation & REST policy evaluation.
TestedGo & Pipelines: High-concurrency TCP scanning & multi-language pipelines.
DEVScheduled for testing

DevOps & DevSecOps

A planned practical sequence spanning Git, GitHub, Jenkins, Selenium, Docker, security analysis, threat modeling, and cloud-ready delivery.

SDG alignment

SDG 9 · Industry, Innovation & Infrastructure

SDG 16 · Peace, Justice & Strong Institutions

ScheduledManage source code and collaboration workflows with Git and GitHub.
ScheduledBuild CI/CD pipelines and automated testing with Jenkins.
ScheduledContainerize, secure, monitor, and deploy applications.
ScheduledTesting is on the implementation timeline and scheduled for the next validation phase.

The curriculum combines practical experimentation, industry-relevant tools, and responsible technology outcomes aligned with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.

HIL Cyber Range · Separate R&D track

Real controllers.
Simulated processes.
Safe consequences.

Study cyberattacks against real control hardware without risking live production.

This is a dedicated OT/ICS research and development track — not a feature of the Institute Cyber Lab Platform.
Isolated by designSafe to resetRepeatable research
[HIL_BENCH // TESTBED_01]
LIVE_CIRCUIT
Hardware-in-the-loop training bench with PLC, HMI, wiring, pump, and simulated water tank

Starting focused

One controller, one process, one repeatable scenario.

Water level control
Conveyor & motor control
PLC logic manipulation
OT incident recovery

Before you request a trial

Read all FAQs

Free for 15 days

See what practical labs can look like at your institute.

Review what is included, what is outside the trial, and request a setup conversation with our team.

How it starts

Your 15 days begin after we agree on the labs and access for your institute.

Share your subjects, cohort, and preferred setup. We’ll confirm the trial scope with you before access begins.