Cyber Security Collaborative Research Alliance (CSCRA) was a

research program A research program (British English: research programme) is a professional network of scientists conducting basic research. The term was used by philosophy of science, philosopher of science Imre Lakatos to blend and revise the normative model of ...

initiated and sponsored by the US Army Research Laboratory (ARL). The objective of the program was “to develop a fundamental understanding of cyber phenomena, including aspects of human attackers, cyber defenders, and

end user In product development, an end user (sometimes end-user) is a person who ultimately uses or is intended to ultimately use a product. The end user stands in contrast to users who support or maintain the product, such as sysops, system administrat ...

s, so that fundamental laws,

theories A theory is a rational type of abstract thinking about a phenomenon, or the results of such thinking. The process of contemplative and rational thinking is often associated with such processes as observational study or research. Theories may be ...

, and theoretically grounded and empirically validated models can be applied to a broad range of Army domains, applications, and environments.” Collaborative Technology and Research Alliances is a term for

partnership A partnership is an arrangement where parties, known as business partners, agree to cooperate to advance their mutual interests. The partners in a partnership may be individuals, businesses, interest-based organizations, schools, governments ...

s between Army laboratories and centers, private industry and

academia An academy ( Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy ...

for performing research and technology development intended to benefit the

US Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, c ...

. The partnerships are funded by the

History

Since approximately 1992, ARL formed a number of partnerships that involved the triad of industry, academia and

government A government is the system or group of people governing an organized community, generally a state. In the case of its broad associative definition, government normally consists of legislature, executive, and judiciary. Government ...

. One of them was the Cyber Security Collaborative Research Alliance (CSCRA) which was awarded on September 20, 2013. The program was expected to be completed in September 2022.

Objectives

Recognizing the need to address the growing threat of attacks on its cyber networks, the U.S. Army launched CSCRA. The alliance conducted research to advance the theoretical foundations of cyber science in the context of U.S. Army networks. According to the Army, research into

cybersecurity Computer security, cybersecurity (cyber security), or information technology security (IT security) is the protection of computer systems and networks from attack by malicious actors that may result in unauthorized information disclosure, th ...

is critical due to “the growing number and sophistication of attacks on military cyber networks coupled with the ever-increasing reliance on cyber systems to conduct the Army’s mission.” The ultimate goal of this research was the rapid development of cyber tools that could be used to dynamically assess cyber risks, detect hostile activities on friendly networks, and support agile maneuvers in

cyber space Cyberspace is a concept describing a widespread interconnected digital technology. "The expression dates back from the first decade of the diffusion of the internet. It refers to the online world as a world 'apart', as distinct from everyday rea ...

in addressing novel threats. Objectives of CSCRA included development of the following: * Fundamental understanding of cyber phenomena, including human aspects * Laws, theories, and theoretically grounded and empirically validated models * Concepts applicable to a broad array of Army domains, applications, and environments

Research Thrusts

The CSCRA program was organized around several research thrusts, including the following: * Risk, Detection, Agility

Participants

The research under this program was performed collaboratively by scientists of the US Army Research Laboratory and by scientists and engineers of the following institutions: * Army Research Laboratory *

Pennsylvania State University The Pennsylvania State University (Penn State or PSU) is a public state-related land-grant research university with campuses and facilities throughout Pennsylvania. Founded in 1855 as the Farmers' High School of Pennsylvania, Penn State becam ...

Carnegie Mellon University Carnegie Mellon University (CMU) is a private research university in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. One of its predecessors was established in 1900 by Andrew Carnegie as the Carnegie Technical Schools; it became the Carnegie Institute of Technology ...

Indiana University Indiana University (IU) is a system of public universities in the U.S. state of Indiana. Campuses Indiana University has two core campuses, five regional campuses, and two regional centers under the administration of IUPUI. * Indiana Univers ...

* University of California at Davis * University of California Riverside * Applied Communication Sciences

Results

Examples of research results developed by the CSCRA program include the following: * Four publicly available datasets generated using a

testbed A testbed (also spelled test bed) is a platform for conducting rigorous, transparent, and replicable testing of scientific theories, computational tools, and new technologies. The term is used across many disciplines to describe experimental rese ...

with simulated benign users and a manual attacker. The datasets were created to provide examples of cyber exploitations and aid in the production of reproducible research that addresses cyber security challenges. * * An adaptive cyber deception system that provided a virtual network view to each host in an enterprise network, capable of detecting malicious activities resulting from intrusions and probing. * * A common vocabulary and context for

Cyber-Physical Systems A cyber-physical system (CPS) or intelligent system is a computer system in which a mechanism is controlled or monitored by computer-based algorithms. In cyber-physical systems, physical and software components are deeply intertwined, able to ope ...

(CPS) intended to support research, assessment and responses to threats in this area. * * A finding that

face-to-face interaction Face-to-face interaction is social communication carried out without any mediating technology. It is defined as the mutual influence of individuals’ direct physical presence with their body language and verbal language. It is one of the basic ...

s deter the success of cybersecurity teams. High-performing teams relied on leadership and functional specialization.

References

{{Reflist Military research Computer security organizations Cyberwarfare in the United States 2013 establishments in the United States