A Framework for Measuring Situation Awareness in Cyberspace Operations

Abstract

Critical human factors challenges, including some that are unique to the cyber domain, demand technological solutions to aid operators performing cyber missions. One performance component of particular interest is measuring the situation awareness (SA) of human operators monitoring cyber events (herein called cyber SA). During a literature review, this paper’s authors found several attempts to develop and test measures of cyber SA, but none of the papers presented a framework integrating a formal definition of SA into the cyber domain. By crossing the US Army’s five-plane model of cyberspace operations with Endsley’s three-level model of SA, a formal framework is herein proposed. Using this framework, researchers can develop probe questions suitable for any cyber mission, and their results can be used to measure cyber SA. A sample application of this framework is provided, and future directions are proposed.