Human Dimension in Cyber Operations Research and Development Priorities

Forsythe, James C.; Silva, Austin; Marie, Stevens-Adams, Susan; Bradshaw, Jeffrey M.

doi:10.1007/978-3-642-39454-6_44

Cited by 13 publications

(5 citation statements)

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“…This helps facilitate that involved partners can develop and calibrate shared CSA so that decisions incorporate both tactical and strategic approaches in both the physical and cyber domain (Knox et al, 2018). Good cyber defense relies on effective team coordination (Forsythe et al, 2013) and COs working in teams must actively engage in dynamic problem solving to acquire knowledge from each other and the environment (Jøsok et al, 2017). In line with the shifting task demands of the HS, the HS might move along its axis as the focus of the team changes (Figure 1, d;Jøsok et al, 2017) thus changing communicational needs.…”

Section: Cognitive Aspects Of Cybersecurity Performance and Implicati...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Human-Human Communication in Cyber Threat Situations: A Systematic Review

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Lugo

Knox

et al. 2021

HCI International 2021 - Late Breaking Papers: Cognition, Inclusion, Learning, and Culture

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In cyber threat situations, decision-making within organizations and between the affected organization and external entities are high-stake situations. They require human communication entailing technical complexity, time pressure, interdisciplinary, and often insufficient information basis. Communication in cyber threat situations within socio-technical systems can thus be challenging and has a variety of implications for decision-making. The cyberphysical system is a rapidly changing socio-technical system that is understudied in terms of how cyber events are communicated and acted upon to secure and maintain cyber resilience. The present study is the first to review human-tohuman communication in cyber threat situations. Our aims are to (1) outline how human-human communication performance in cybersecurity settings have been studied; (2) to uncover areas where there is potential for developing common standards for information exchange in collaborative settings, and; (3) to provide guidance for future research efforts. The review was carried out according to the PRISMA guidelines and articles were searched for on Google Scholar, ScienceDirect, Taylor & Francis, and IEEE. Primary research articles and reviews focusing on human-human communication in cyber threat situations published in peer reviewed journals or as conference papers were included. A total of 17 studies were included in the final review. Most of the studies were correlational and exploratory in nature. Very few studies characterize communication in useful goal-related terms.

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Section: Cognitive Aspects Of Cybersecurity Performance and Implicati...mentioning

confidence: 99%

Human-Human Communication in Cyber Threat Situations: A Systematic Review

Ask

Lugo

Knox

et al. 2021

HCI International 2021 - Late Breaking Papers: Cognition, Inclusion, Learning, and Culture

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“…Self-regulation should therefore be explored in relation to displays of cognitive agility and performance in cyber operations. A challenge that remains is establishing consensus of how to assess operator performance in cyber operations (Forsythe et al, 2013). Previous research points to agility and flexible cognitive strategies as pathways to performance in cyber operations (Knox B. et al, 2018).…”

Section: Cyber Operator Cognitive Demands and Performancementioning

confidence: 99%

“…While technical cyber competence is paramount to operate in the cyber domain, the soft skills and cognitive competencies have started to receive more attention. The high cognitive demands of cyber operators have been widely acknowledged (Tapscott, 2014; Røislien, 2015; D’Amico et al, 2016; Buchler et al, 2018); however, the soft skills 1 and cognitive competencies 2 contribution to cyber operator performance is yet to be empirically validated (Forsythe et al, 2013; Lathrop et al, 2016; Helkala et al, 2017; Knox B. et al, 2018).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Self-Regulation and Cognitive Agility in Cyber Operations

et al. 2019

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Reliance upon data networks to conduct military operations presents new challenges to the competence profiles of military personnel. Specifically the increased demand for the new category of military cyber personnel is a direct consequence of the utility of the cyber domain in contemporary military operations, both to support leadership processes and as a domain of operations on its own. The conflation of the cyber and physical domains empowers cyber operators to influence events beyond their immediate physical environment. Proper education and training of such personnel requires new insight into the competencies that are beyond cyber specific technical skills, to govern the complexity of operating in a cyber-physical hybrid environment. This pilot research contributes to the debate on military cyber personnel competencies by investigating how cyber defense operator’s level of self-regulation can contribute to their performance in operations. We hypothesize that higher levels of self-regulation predicts higher levels of cognitive agility as measured by cognitive movement in The Hybrid Space conceptual framework. Displays of cognitive agility within The Hybrid Space have previously been linked to performance in defensive cyber operations. A positive association was therefore expected between levels of self-regulation and displays of cognitive agility. N = 23 cyber cadets from the Norwegian Defence Cyber Academy (NDCA) completed self-regulation questionnaires (SRQs) and self-reported their cognitive location in The Hybrid Space during a 4-day cyber defense exercise. Data showed that higher levels of self-regulation were associated with displays of cognitive agility. According to the regression models in use, self-regulation could explain 43.1% of the total cognitive movements in The Hybrid Space. Understanding factors that contribute to cyber operator performance are needed to improve education and training programs for military cyber personnel. Validating self-regulation as a contributing factor to cognitive agility is important as this can be a pathway to empirically underpin individual cyber operator performance.

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“…This methodology and the data collected with it could be used to develop objectives for courses, group exercises (Patriciu & Furtuna, 2009), and simulation training (Pastor, Diaz, & Castro, 2010) within cybersecurity. Because there is little data to guide personnel selection for cybersecurity jobs (Forsythe, Silva, Stevens-Adams, & Bradshaw, 2013;Mancuso et al, 2014), hiring managers may wish to interview their top performers to determine the KSAs they should prioritize during hiring decisions. The brief interview technique could be customized to fit other research goals in and outside of the cybersecurity field.…”

Section: Lessons Learnedmentioning

confidence: 99%

Framework for Developing a Brief Interview to Understand Cyber Defense Work: An Experience Report

Armstrong

Jones

Namin

2017

Proceedings of the Human Factors and Ergonomics Society Annual

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Cyber defense is increasingly important for the wellbeing of our economy and our national defense. Universities can help meet our growing cybersecurity needs by training the next generation of cyber defenders, and it is crucial that the curricula for such programs are designed to prepare students for the type of work that is performed in the field. Unfortunately, collecting data about cyber work is hindered in situations where cybersecurity professionals are uncomfortable with traditional human factors work analysis methods. Four potential constraints are 1) no naturalistic observations, 2) anonymity and safety, 3) short data collection time, and 4) no deep process questions. We developed a brief interview technique that allowed us to measure the importance of knowledge, skills, and abilities related to offensive and defensive cyber work. Based on our experience using this technique, it fits within the four potential constraints to cyber research and produces information that is directly applicable to the development of cybersecurity curricula. Our technique could potentially be used for other research purposes and personnel selection and by researchers interested in other high-security populations.

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Human Dimension in Cyber Operations Research and Development Priorities

Cited by 13 publications

References 0 publications

Human-Human Communication in Cyber Threat Situations: A Systematic Review

Human-Human Communication in Cyber Threat Situations: A Systematic Review

Self-Regulation and Cognitive Agility in Cyber Operations

Framework for Developing a Brief Interview to Understand Cyber Defense Work: An Experience Report

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