Visualization for Command and Control of Cyberspace Operations

We propose to research, design, and evaluate the feasibility of a Visualization for Integrated Cyber Command and Control (VIC3) system that fuses and displays vast amounts of multidimensional cyber security data from multiple sources to provide a unified view of the cyber battlespace. VIC3 will allow commanders to monitor cyber activity, correlate events, understand information dependencies, evaluate alternative COAs, project potential effects, and view relationships between cyber and kinetic operations. Cyberspace superiority is a prerequisite for effective operations in all other warfighting domains. A key challenge to cyber C2 is the complexity of relevant data: it is immense and multidimensional, includes streaming and log data, and comes from a diverse set of applications and devices. Cyber security visualization is still nascent and focused on the application of traditional and limited methods to static application logs. New visualization methods must be applied to support cyber situation awareness and provide decision makers information on a) the current state of the cyber battlespace, b) enemy and friendly capabilities and vulnerabilities, c) correlations between cyber events and how they affect or are affected by kinetic events, and c) potential effects of alternative courses of action within cyberspace.   BENEFIT: The results of the proposed research will support cyber C2 and can be transitioned for use at the AFNOC or within the AOC for integrated ATO production that factors in cyber security implications and enablers. The proposed effort will advance VisiTrends commercial offerings for visualization and cyber security including interfaces and APIs licensed to commercial partner NitroSecurity.