Situation Awareness in Defensive Cyberspace Operations: An Annotated Bibliographic Assessment Through 2015
Abstract
Situation awareness (SA) is a buzzword concept, but unlike most buzzwords, it has a robust and scientific research focus. Grounded in cognitive psychology and human factors research findings, SA is essentially characterization of what a person knows about their current and future environment, in the context of their current goals. Being aware of critical information, comprehending it, and even projecting the situation into the near future is a highly useful skill in many different domains, such as aviation, driving, and healthcare. Cyberspace operators share many of the same concerns as more traditional roles of the pilot and the driver. In particular, cyber network defense (CND) operators must remain aware of different types of activity, comprehend what various sources of information mean and how they are pieced together, and project what effects on their network will be in order to stop or prevent threats. For future Warfighter performance in cyberspace, substantial benefits are derived from improving defender SA, as we have in other domains. Improving SA is permanently connected with understanding how to measure awareness in the cyber environment. In support of this concept, a review of the available literature in cyber SA was conducted to determine how to begin the process of measurement and improvement, and to derive key points for further research. This report finds that the utility of SA analysis and was found measuring SA in the CND environment measurement has yet to be realized in cyberspace. With a few exceptions, almost no experimental work was found on measuring or characterizing the process or product in developing cyber situational awareness. In those few found, there are still occasional methodological or analytical deficits and concerns, which preclude any strong conclusions. The development of specific measurement techniques must be explored elsewhere.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jun 01, 2019
- Accession Number
- AD1074248
Entities
People
- Robert S Gutzwiller
Organizations
- Naval Information Warfare Center Pacific