Development of a test battery for cyber soldiers

Abstract

There is a great need for people with specialist knowledge about cybersecurity in both the civil and military sector. The Swedish Armed Forces has decided that a basic education for conscript cyber soldiers shall be established. The work presented in this paper describes the development of an aptitude test for use in the selection process of conscript cyber soldiers, including a work analysis, test development, and initial validation. Based on the results from the work analysis and a literature review on other cyber tests, the test battery CyberTest Future Soldiers (CTFS) was developed. The cyber test (CTFS) consists of one skill test (with six subareas), one abilities test (with four subareas), and one survey regarding the test taker’s interests. The results from the initial validation show that the different test sections (skill and ability) measure different aspects important for performance. This lack of correlation makes it possible to select highly skilled people as well as people on a lower skill level, but who should perform well during the education due to their high level of abilities.