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Inside ReSCIND's unique approach to cybersecurity, exploiting human weaknesses to our advantage.
The Advanced Intelligence Research Agency (IARPA) has launched a new program aimed at analyzing and potentially exploiting weaknesses in the psychology of cybercriminals.
The project, titled "Rethinking Security with Cyber Psychology to Protect Networks" (ReSCIND), aims to fundamentally change approaches to cybersecurity by exploiting the cognitive limitations and biases inherent in human decision-making to disrupt cyber attacks. Contrary to expectations, the program seeks to reverse the current trend of attackers exploiting human errors by targeting the attackers ' own cognitive weaknesses. By integrating traditional cybersecurity measures with the emerging field of cyber psychology, ReSCIND intends to create a new type of cyber defense technology.
"ReSCIND will allow cyberspace defenders within the intelligence community to impose costs on attackers in terms of time and effort spent, which will delay and potentially prevent attacks, as well as reveal the identities behind them faster," ReSCIND program manager Dr. Kimberly Ferguson-Walter said in a press release. "This innovative approach, focused on the person behind the attack, will significantly strengthen our layered cyber defenses."
The IARPA awarded ReSCIND research contracts through a broad agency competitive announcement to several teams, including Charles River Analytics, Inc., GrammaTech, Inc., Peraton Labs, Raytheon Technologies Research Center, and SRI International. Testing and evaluation of the program will be conducted by the University of Maryland's Applied Intelligence and Security Research Laboratory, MIT's Lincoln Laboratory, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, and MITRE.
The program, which runs for almost four years, will focus on identifying and modeling human cognitive biases associated with cyberattack behavior, understanding and inducing changes in cyberattack behavior, and providing algorithms to automatically adapt these decisions based on observed behavior.
The program structure is divided into three stages. The first 18 months will be devoted to identifying cognitive vulnerabilities relevant to cyber attackers, including methods for causing, exacerbating, and measuring each cognitive vulnerability. The next 15 months will be devoted to research and development of cyberpsychology-based protection that matches the observed attributes of attackers and noticeably disrupts the behavior of cyber attackers at all stages of a cyber attack, increasing the negative impact on the performance and success of attackers. The last 12 months will focus on providing algorithms to automatically adapt these decisions based on the observed behavior.
ReSCIND's innovative approach is not only to create new cyber defense technologies, but also to understand the psychology of cyber attacks. By focusing on the human element, the program aims to develop more effective strategies to protect against cyber threats, moving from a purely technical perspective to a more holistic approach.
The Advanced Intelligence Research Agency (IARPA) has launched a new program aimed at analyzing and potentially exploiting weaknesses in the psychology of cybercriminals.
The project, titled "Rethinking Security with Cyber Psychology to Protect Networks" (ReSCIND), aims to fundamentally change approaches to cybersecurity by exploiting the cognitive limitations and biases inherent in human decision-making to disrupt cyber attacks. Contrary to expectations, the program seeks to reverse the current trend of attackers exploiting human errors by targeting the attackers ' own cognitive weaknesses. By integrating traditional cybersecurity measures with the emerging field of cyber psychology, ReSCIND intends to create a new type of cyber defense technology.
"ReSCIND will allow cyberspace defenders within the intelligence community to impose costs on attackers in terms of time and effort spent, which will delay and potentially prevent attacks, as well as reveal the identities behind them faster," ReSCIND program manager Dr. Kimberly Ferguson-Walter said in a press release. "This innovative approach, focused on the person behind the attack, will significantly strengthen our layered cyber defenses."
The IARPA awarded ReSCIND research contracts through a broad agency competitive announcement to several teams, including Charles River Analytics, Inc., GrammaTech, Inc., Peraton Labs, Raytheon Technologies Research Center, and SRI International. Testing and evaluation of the program will be conducted by the University of Maryland's Applied Intelligence and Security Research Laboratory, MIT's Lincoln Laboratory, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory, and MITRE.
The program, which runs for almost four years, will focus on identifying and modeling human cognitive biases associated with cyberattack behavior, understanding and inducing changes in cyberattack behavior, and providing algorithms to automatically adapt these decisions based on observed behavior.
The program structure is divided into three stages. The first 18 months will be devoted to identifying cognitive vulnerabilities relevant to cyber attackers, including methods for causing, exacerbating, and measuring each cognitive vulnerability. The next 15 months will be devoted to research and development of cyberpsychology-based protection that matches the observed attributes of attackers and noticeably disrupts the behavior of cyber attackers at all stages of a cyber attack, increasing the negative impact on the performance and success of attackers. The last 12 months will focus on providing algorithms to automatically adapt these decisions based on the observed behavior.
ReSCIND's innovative approach is not only to create new cyber defense technologies, but also to understand the psychology of cyber attacks. By focusing on the human element, the program aims to develop more effective strategies to protect against cyber threats, moving from a purely technical perspective to a more holistic approach.
