The cyber battlefield is growing faster, larger and more complex, and future Army operators/analysts will need to keep pace to be effective.
To help prepare them, principal investigators Dr. Aryn Pyke, cyber cognitive sciences fellow at the Army Cyber Institute (ACI) and associate professor in the Department of Behavioral Sciences & Leadership (BS&L); and Lt. Col. Nathaniel Bastian, academy professor, chief data scientist and senior research scientist at ACI and assistant professor in the Departments of Systems Engineering and Mathematical Sciences, are developing a cognitive augmentation system which will be supported by $525,000 of a $6million award from the Office of the Under Secretary of Defense for Research and Engineering, to be used over three years.
The award is being shared with partners including the U.S. Army Combat Capabilities Development Command Analysis Center, U.S. Naval Research Laboratory, U.S. Air Force Research Laboratory, Virginia Tech and Peraton Labs.
Dr. Norbou Buchler, cognitive scientist from the Analysis Center, Dr. Jaelle Scheuerman, computer scientist from the Naval Research Laboratory, Dr. Kristen Liggett, principal human factors engineer from the Air Force Research Laboratory, National Security Institute Intelligent Systems Division Director Dr. Laura Freeman from Virginia Tech and Dr. Alex Poylisher, senior research scientist from Peraton Labs are the partner researchers.
The goal of the project, titled “Augmented Cyber Cognition with Operational Learning Automation of Deployed Expertise (ACCOLADE),” is to research, design and develop a cognitive cyber augmentation system that will infer the current task/goal of cyber operators/analysts and provide real-time decision support, assistive automation and situational understanding.
“I am excited about the ACCOLADE research project, which address four of seven DOD cyber challenges to adapt, improve and increase the cognitive capacity and capabilities of cyber operations by creating an operationally relevant cyber library of Tactics, Techniques and Procedures (TTPs) and developing a decision-support tool using an iterative machine learning approach,” Bastian said.
West Point is the ideal location for this research, as ACI, which falls under the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Sciences (EECS), is an interdisciplinary institute equipped to serve as a research, advisement and education resource for the Army, and to identify and investigate opportunities to enhance the Army’s ability to meet the cyber demands of the evolving multi-domain battle space of the future. ACI areas of expertise most relevant to supporting the project include data science, operations research, artificial intelligence, machine learning, systems engineering, cognitive modeling, human computer interaction and experimental design.
“Our technical approach will leverage several existing technologies, to include User Activity Tracker (a basis for inferring human workflows), BOLT (for cyber data labeling), and CyberVAN (for cyber scenario experimentation via simulation/emulation),” Bastian said. “We will employ a campaign of experimentation across multiple test sites, which is supported by a strong community-based, collaborative research team involving multiple DOD organizations, the academic community and industry.”
The research will impact the Army by improving the efficacy of cyberspace operations and multi-domain battle with technology transition pre-arranged with the U.S. Army DEVCOM Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Cyber, Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Center for operational use by Army Cyber Command and U.S. Cyber Command.
Further, cadets will have opportunities to leverage an interdisciplinary approach to the project through capstones, honors theses and independent studies across departments including EECS, Systems Engineering, Mathematical Sciences and BS&L.
To learn more about the Army Cyber Institute, visit https://cyber.army.mil.
To learn more about the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, visit https://www.westpoint.edu/academics/academic-departments/electrical-engineering-and-computer-science.
To learn more about the Department of Systems Engineering, visit https://www.westpoint.edu/academics/academic-departments/systems-engineering.
To learn more about the Department of Mathematical Sciences, visit https://www.westpoint.edu/academics/academic-departments/mathematical-sciences.
To learn more about the Department of Behavioral Sciences & Leadership, visit https://www.westpoint.edu/academics/academic-departments/behavioral-sciences-and-leadership.
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