Spearphishing Defense Through Improved Usability

The information environment consists of three interrelated dimensions which are the physical, the informational and the cognitive. The most important of these is the cognitive dimension which encompasses the minds of people who interact with information and make decisions using information. Employing cyberspace operations, attackers use spearphishing to engage in espionage, sabotage and other intelligence-related activities. We discuss the use of an enhanced user interface as a means of counterintelligence to disrupt spearphishing attacks. We describe how improved usability can help the targets of spearphishing act as a sensor network which can provide information superiority over the spearphishing attackers.

Keywords: intelligence, cyberspace operations, counterintelligence, information operations, operational security, military deception, phishing, spearphishing, APT, computer network defense, human sensors, cyber counterattack, deception countermeasures, usability, Compliance Budget