Word spread, and the assessment has since been used by more than 40 organizations, ranging from the DoD to private healthcare companies. “It’s another one of those places where technology alone is not going to cut it.”ĬORA applies to all cybersecurity operations centers regardless of size, mission, and capability level. “We also wanted to explicitly bring in the people and the process side of cyber capabilities, as well as the technology,” Boiney says of the “lightweight methodology,” which incorporates a tailored survey/interview approach. In contrast to onerous and expensive assessments, CORA helps security operations centers quickly determine where to focus attention and resources to improve their cyber defense capabilities. She and her team developed the Cyber Operations Rapid Assessment (CORA) through MITRE’s independent research program. She was inspired to consider a methodology that could prompt all organizations, large and small, to identify strengths and weaknesses in their cybersecurity efforts. The further Boiney delved into the cyber universe-both internally at MITRE and with sponsors from the Department of Defense (DoD) and Intelligence Community-the more she became fascinated with the interplay among people, processes, and technology.Īs she familiarized herself with diverse cybersecurity operations centers, Boiney sought to understand and address their varying maturity levels. Cyber Solutions Require People, Process, and Technology to Align These intense environments, where technology and human decision making converged, appealed to Boiney’s expertise: “I was hooked,” she says. Amid multiple displays providing alerts and notifications of potential anomalies, analysts work individually and collaboratively to separate the signal from the noise and identify events needing immediate attention. Once again, she found herself sitting behind analysts as they worked, except this time it was information security cyber experts. She loved engaging in a classroom setting and conducting research, but the prospect of working on problems of national importance was hard to pass up.Īt MITRE, she became enthralled by the high-stakes, time-sensitive, and uncertain environments that cyber defenders inhabit. After completing a doctorate in decision sciences at Duke University, she spent a decade teaching Executive MBA candidates, first at George Mason University’s School of Business and later at Pepperdine University’s Graziadio School of Business. Applying Decision Sciences to Cybersecurityīoiney’s MITRE journey, which began in 2002, was a far cry from her previous job as a professor. It boosts more substantive intel to the top of the queue. Instead, they designed and built the Dynamic Chat Manager, a tool that notifies users when specific chat rooms get a sudden uptick in activity, or comments from key personnel. They stepped back and asked themselves: “Do we really want to give more screens to individuals who are already inundated with data?” In this scenario, the team identified human attention as the scarce resource. “People in high-intensity environments don’t always fully understand what they need,” she explains, noting that the operators initially requested additional screens to fit more chat windows.
#Decisions decisions full
and our allies) and their assets? Where can we confidently identify adversary assets, and which ones pose the greatest risk? As personnel rush to paint the full picture, information pours in through dozens of displays and chat windows across a wall of screens. Where are our blue forces (i.e., the U.S. She uses technology and data to help high-stakes decision makers hone their craft.Įarly in her tenure at MITRE, Boiney was part of a research team that visited an Air Force operations center in Las Vegas to observe warfighters participating in a time-sensitive targeting live-fly simulation exercise.īefore engaging a target, our military’s operators rely on an influx of intel to make dozens of real-time judgments.
Lucky for those in the hot seat, Lindsley Boiney, Ph.D.-an expert in decision sciences-has spent the last 20 years supporting such efforts.
Now, imagine having to make choices in a fast-moving environment under time pressure, with people’s lives depending on your calls. Many of these pioneering women have helped establish standards that the cybersecurity community follows throughout the world.ĭecision making is hard under the best of circumstances. In honor of Women’s History Month, we’re highlighting MITRE technical experts who’ve worked here for more than 20 years.
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