Cyber Operations Virtual Environment

Citation
Jennifer L. Winner, Lisa S. Holt, Jasmine Duran & Eric Watz, Cyber Operations Virtual Environment: Final Report (AFRL-RH-AZ-TR-2010-0027) (Sept. 2010) (full-text).

Overview
This report details an instructional Science and Technology (S&T) plan to address the United States Air Force's need to defend against and respond to cyber threats to their networks. The approach documented within this plan focuses on the joint optimization of human performance and technologies, with a focus on instructional theory and design and human factor considerations and methodologies.

Recommendations put forth in this report are informed by a review of considerations for the design of instruction and implementation within a virtual environment. Successful implementation of this S&T plan should impact USAF instructional capabilities and training, ultimately benefitting the operational community by producing Airmen who are aware of the likelihood and attributes of cyber attacks, who can use various tools to detect the presence of and effects of cyber attacks, and who are prepared to fight through these attacks. Airmen who are prepared will have developed robust operational methods to continue during and after cyber attack]s, and be able to use indicators of network/data-source/communications health to identify and ward off cyber attack.