A Testbed for Operations in the Information Environment

Abstract

Operations in the Information Environment (OIE) is a rapidly evolving field in US government defense. Historically, the use of testbeds and assessments contributed to the maturation of cybersecurity, in both industry and defense. Cybersecurity testbeds and OIE assessments evaluate defenses in controlled settings, with OIE assessments concentrating on information manipulation and influence operations. To support OIE assessments, we developed CIOTER, a cybersecurity-styled testbed supporting end-to-end OIE assessments of both tools and their operators. CIOTER’s extensible architecture and capabilities make it suitable for integration into OIE training and exercise environments. Two current capabilities, a Machine Learning Operations Pipeline (MLOps) and an Over-the-shoulder (OTS) Monitoring and Situational Awareness tool suite, were demonstrated with OIE tools/data; one in a training session, and an information warfare exercise. The demonstrations resulted in actionable improvements to the OIE tools, metrics and visualizations, and metrics providing insights into participant use of the tools, and validation of and extensions to the CIOTER capabilities.