Accession Number:

AD1029741

Title:

A Holistic Operational Framework for Establishing Situational Awareness in Cyberspace

Descriptive Note:

Technical Report

Corporate Author:

United States Air Force Academy Air Force Academy United States

Personal Author(s):

• Dressler,Judson
• Moody,William C.
• Koepke,Jason
• Bowen,Calvert III L.

Report Date:

2012-02-24

Pagination or Media Count:

6.0

Abstract:

Our nation, including the Department of Defense, relies heavily on information systems and networking technologies to efficiently conduct a wide variety of missions across the globe. With the ever-increasing rate of cyber attacks, this dependency places the nation at risk of a loss of confidentiality, integrity, and availability of its critical information resources degrading its ability to complete the mission. In this paper, we propose a Holistic Operational Framework for Establishing Situational Awareness in Cyberspace HOFESAC, whose goal is to provide the nation s leadership timely and accurate in formation to gain an understanding of the operational cyber environment to enable strategic , operational, and tactical decision making. In doing so, we present the key information components of cyber situational aware ness and present a hypothetical case study demonstrating how they must be consolidated to provide a clear and relevant picture to a commander. In addition, current organizational and technical challenges are discussed, and areas for future research are addressed.

Descriptors:

• information security
• situational awareness
• computer network security
• department of defense
• decision making
• cyberspace
• homeland security

Subject Categories:

• Computer Systems Management and Standards

Distribution Statement:

APPROVED FOR PUBLIC RELEASE