Enhancing cyber situation awareness for non-expert users using visual analytics

Legg, Philip

Abstract

Situation awareness is often described as the perception and comprehension of the current situation, and the projection of future status. Whilst this may be understood in an organisational cybersecurity context, there is a strong case to be made for effective cybersecurity situation awareness that is tailored to the needs of the Non-Expert User (NEU). Our online usage habits are rapidly evolving with smartphones and tablets being widely used to access resources online. In order for NEUs to remain safe online, there is a need to enhance awareness and understanding of cybersecurity concerns, such as how devices may be acting online, and what data is being shared between devices. In this paper, we explore the notion of personal situation awareness for NEUs. We conduct a small-scale study to understand how NEUs perceive cybersecurity. We also propose how visual analytics could be used to help encourage NEUs to actively monitor and observe their activity for greater online awareness. The guidance developed through the course of this work can help practitioners develop tools that could help NEUs better understand their online actions, with the aim to result in safer experiences when acting online.

• Presentation Conference Type: Conference Paper (unpublished)
• Conference Name: International Conference On Cyber Situational Awareness, Data Analytics And Assessment (CyberSA 2016)
• Start Date: Jun 13, 2016
• End Date: Jun 14, 2016
• Acceptance Date: Mar 28, 2016
• Publication Date: Jan 1, 2016
• Deposit Date: Apr 8, 2016
• Publicly Available Date: Jul 13, 2016
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Keywords: cyber situation awareness, non-expert, visual analytics
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/920724
• Publisher URL: http://dx.doi.org/10.1109/CyberSA.2016.7503278
• Related Public URLs: http://www.c-mric.org/index.php/csa2016
• Additional Information: Additional Information : (c) 2016 IEEE. Personal use of this material is permitted. Permission from IEEE must be obtained for all other users, including reprinting/ republishing this material for advertising or promotional purposes, creating new collective works for resale or redistribution to servers or lists, or reuse of any copyrighted components of this work in other works; Title of Conference or Conference Proceedings : International Conference On Cyber Situational Awareness, Data Analytics And Assessment (CyberSA 2016),
• Contract Date: Apr 8, 2016