WSi News2013-04-29 08:35:30
OSD/Navy award IAI a new contract to develop Situational Awareness for Cyber-security Evaluation and Training.
DOD and owners of large, commercial enterprise networks need appropriate tools and well-trained personnel to counter cyber-attacks and enforce cyber-security. Cyber situational awareness requires understanding the context of network vulnerabilities, their interrelations, and how they may be exploited. Human cyber analysts face information overload and a concomitant lack of comprehensive cyber situation awareness. To address this, IAI and its collaborator, University of Utah, will develop Situational Awareness for Cyber-secURity Evaluation and training (SACURE) by utilizing current visualization principles and cognitive task analyses (CTA) of analysts' workflow. IAI and its collaborator, the University of Utah, will use expertise in cyber-security, interface design, and visualizations of large, heterogeneous data, to develop a next-generation cyber-security tool to improve analysts' and managers' performance. This approach leverages prior Cognitive Task Analyses of cyber-security personnel to design interfaces that support personnel workflow, and to provide visualizations of the networks that enable users to develop Situational Awareness of the security of their networks. This approach combines existing CTA of cyber security personnel, a state-of-the-art cyber-security tool that will be refined to enhance the capabilities of its users, research-based design and visualization capabilities, innovative user analysis methods, and embedded assessment and training systems to help users practice their capabilities before real attacks occur. SACURE is flexible to new threats and responses to those threats, and provides different views of enterprise networks depending on the role and current needs of the user. SACURE will be integrated with IAI's Network Intrusion Risk and Vulnerability Analysis (NIRVANA), to illustrate how SACURE can assist users of cyber-security tools. Together, they provide a fully functioning, next-generation cyber-security tool with an interface designed based on users' needs for situational awareness.
DOD and owners of large, commercial enterprise networks need appropriate tools and well-trained personnel to counter cyber-attacks and enforce cyber-security. Cyber situational awareness requires understanding the context of network vulnerabilities, their interrelations, and how they may be exploited. Human cyber analysts face information overload and a concomitant lack of comprehensive cyber situation awareness. To address this, IAI and its collaborator, University of Utah, will develop Situational Awareness for Cyber-secURity Evaluation and training (SACURE) by utilizing current visualization principles and cognitive task analyses (CTA) of analysts' workflow. IAI and its collaborator, the University of Utah, will use expertise in cyber-security, interface design, and visualizations of large, heterogeneous data, to develop a next-generation cyber-security tool to improve analysts' and managers' performance. This approach leverages prior Cognitive Task Analyses of cyber-security personnel to design interfaces that support personnel workflow, and to provide visualizations of the networks that enable users to develop Situational Awareness of the security of their networks. This approach combines existing CTA of cyber security personnel, a state-of-the-art cyber-security tool that will be refined to enhance the capabilities of its users, research-based design and visualization capabilities, innovative user analysis methods, and embedded assessment and training systems to help users practice their capabilities before real attacks occur. SACURE is flexible to new threats and responses to those threats, and provides different views of enterprise networks depending on the role and current needs of the user. SACURE will be integrated with IAI's Network Intrusion Risk and Vulnerability Analysis (NIRVANA), to illustrate how SACURE can assist users of cyber-security tools. Together, they provide a fully functioning, next-generation cyber-security tool with an interface designed based on users' needs for situational awareness.
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