SRI International (SRI) and Asylum Labs (Asylum) propose using 3D virtual world gaming technologies to enhance the understanding, engagement factors, and the recruitment impact of Cyber Challenge Competitions (C3). This project intends to address the C3 engagement challenge by designing visualization and presentation technologies that have proven highly successful in e-Sports leagues. The project will demonstrate how C3 forums can be transformed with a high-engagement visualization layer for cybersecurity talent recruitment. This project has a potential to increase student and researcher community engagement in cyber-challenge academic competitions. It will implement key innovations and lessons from e-Sports competitions as potential design alternatives for the visualization framework. By increasing the interest and impact of C3, it will help to identify and attract talented individuals. Elevating the experience of participants and spectators at C3 events has a potential to increase interest in the cybersecurity profession, promote cybersecurity to a larger talent pool, and decrease the age at which people become interested in this field. Currently, e-Sports events draw a broader following among minority groups than C3 events. The project aims to increase the appeal of C3 events to a younger and broader audience and to understand specific factors that inhibit female and minority student participation in fields related to cybersecurity. The purpose of this project is to identify and develop critical cybersecurity skills. The engagement strategies and human-intuitive presentation methods employed in the current generation of C3 events seem to attract those who have already acquired an interest in cybersecurity. The proposed underlying 3D game-like visualization of network attack and defense systems may lead to operational enhancements to future threat-analysis environments. The project will primarily focus on human engagement and understanding of complex data presentation in fast-paced computer attack and defense competitions. The project's system design will incorporate perspectives and prior research from the Human Computer Interaction (HCI) research community, including abstraction, inclusive demographic and gender appeal, intuitive iconography, and visual-cognitive load management.
EAGER: Visualizing Cyber Defense Networks