ADVICE: Advanced Displays for Visualizing Information in Cyber Environments

ABSTRACT:Cyber operators face a deluge of data about complex networks and need to efficiently identify, analyze, and mitigate anomalies. They are overloaded with information, and are often faced with situations that require immediate action to mitigate network effects. While computational techniques such as filters and fusion algorithms can help, the dynamic nature of cyber operations means that data still requires human interpretation to determine the best course of action. To address these challenges the Aptima team proposes to design and build Advanced Displays for Visualizing Information in Cyber Environments (ADVICE). ADVICE uses context-aware interactive visualization, with computational awareness of context drives which visualizations are presented and what data is shown. These visualizations will be human-centered not only in the visual design, but also in the interactions. As cyber operators perform their tasks, ADVICE will provide an integrated context-sensitive picture by facilitating connections across different sources of data, and prioritizing that information based on the users tasks and interactions. The goal of ADVICE is to enable cyber operators to more efficiently perform their jobs by providing intuitive representations of data that are tailored to the operators needs.BENEFIT:ADVICE provides human-centered, context-aware visualization of data for cyber operators. Through computational awareness of context, visualizations are tailored to the task and needs of the human operator. As cyber operators perform their tasks, ADVICE will provide an integrated context-sensitive picture of network activity by facilitating connections across different sources of data, and prioritizing that information based on the users tasks and interactions. This will enable more effective cyberspace operations, where operators can focus their effort on their current task and fluidly interact with the data.