Biblio

This article describes an emerging direction in the intersection between human-computer interaction and cognitive science: the use of cognitive models to give insight into the challenges of cybersecurity. The article gives a brief overview of work in different areas of cybersecurity where cognitive modeling research plays a role, with regard to direct interaction between end users and computer systems and with regard to the needs of security analysts working behind the scenes. The problem of distinguishing between human users and automated agents (bots) interacting with computer systems is introduced, as well as ongoing efforts toward building Human Subtlety Proofs, persistent and unobtrusive windows into human cognition with direct application to cybersecurity. Two computer games are described, proxies to illustrate different ways in which cognitive modeling can potentially contribute to the development of HSPs and similar cybersecurity applications.

In this work we explore how different cognitive processes af- fected typing patterns through a computer game we call The Typing Game. By manipulating the players’ familiarity with the words in our game through their similarity to dictionary words, and by allowing some players to replay rounds, we found that typing speed improves with familiarity with words, and also with practice, but that these are independent of the number of mistakes that are made when typing. We also found that users who had the opportunity to replay rounds exhibited different typing patterns even before replaying the rounds. 

Bot detection - identifying a software program that's using a computer system -- is an increasingly necessary security task. Existing solutions balance proof of human identity with unobtrusiveness in users' workflows. Cognitive modeling and natural interaction might provide stronger security and less intrusiveness.

To help establish a more scientific basis for security science, which will enable the development of fundamental theories and move the field from being primarily reactive to primarily proactive, it is important for research results to be reported in a scientifically rigorous manner. Such reporting will allow for the standard pillars of science, namely replication, meta-analysis, and theory building. In this paper we aim to establish a baseline of the state of scientific work in security through the analysis of indicators of scientific research as reported in the papers from the 2015 IEEE Symposium on Security and Privacy. To conduct this analysis, we developed a series of rubrics to determine the completeness of the papers relative to the type of evaluation used (e.g. case study, experiment, proof). Our findings showed that while papers are generally easy to read, they often do not explicitly document some key information like the research objectives, the process for choosing the cases to include in the studies, and the threats to validity. We hope that this initial analysis will serve as a baseline against which we can measure the advancement of the science of security.

This paper describes the development of subsymbolic ACT-R models for the Concentration game. Performance data is taken from an experiment in which participants played the game un- der two conditions: minimizing the number of mismatches/ turns during a game, and minimizing the time to complete a game. Conflict resolution and parameter tuning are used to implement an accuracy model and a speed model that capture the differences for the two conditions. Visual attention drives exploration of the game board in the models. Modeling re- sults are generally consistent with human performance, though some systematic differences can be seen. Modeling decisions, model limitations, and open issues are discussed.