Transforming Cyber Data into Human-Centered Visualizations

Cyber operations research typically focuses on technology solutions, with little regard for perceptual and cognitive capabilities of human operators. In our Phase I, we analyzed cyber operator tasks within the DoDs Cyber Incident Handling Life Cycle (CIHLC), including information and data sources needed to perform those tasks. Integrating Goal Directed Task Analysis (GDTA) methods with CIHLC task decomposition, we modeled the cyber operators environment and its corresponding decision making requirements. We then created, and qualitatively assessed prototype transformations of low level data as visualizations that support operator decision making requirements. In Phase II, we will objectively evaluate insight gained during Phase I by conducting an experiment to quantitatively measure the effect interactive data visualization techniques have on operator analytic and decision making performance. We will implement a visualization prototype with data transformations, and an experimental interface that permits remote, asynchronous participation, enabling a disperse and diverse candidate population of experienced cyber operators to join the study.Outcomes from the Phase II effort will contribute significantly to understanding how visualizations can be used by cyber operators, and enable multiple transition opportunities for the visualizations and data transformations, as well as a cognitive architecture for visual analytics support to cyber operations.