SEI seeks participants for ODNI-sponsored cyber intelligence study

On November 16, the Emerging Technology Center at the Software Engineering Institute at Pittsburgh, PA-based Carnegie Mellon University issued a call for organizations to participate in a cyber intelligence study sponsored by the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI).

Cyber intelligence—acquiring and analyzing information about cyber capabilities, intentions, and activities to enhance decision making—is a rapidly changing field. The study, which the SEI will conduct over the next 18 months, will provide ODNI with insight into how organizations across the federal government, industry, and academia conduct cyber intelligence activities, identifying common challenges and best practices.

This study is a follow-up to the SEI’s Cyber Intelligence Tradecraft Project, a 2013 study that examined 30 organizations and their approaches to cyber intelligence. The 2013 study has been widely cited and now is the basis of some university courses in cyber intelligence. Key findings from the 2013 study can be found at: https://www.sei.cmu.edu/library/assets/whitepapers/citp-summary-key-findings.pdf

“In 2013, we found areas where organizations struggled and where they were doing well,” said Jared Ettinger, SEI cyber intelligence researcher and study technical lead. “Organizations were able to take the report and follow best practices, so now we’d like to see what has changed,” he said.

Elements of the new study will include preliminary interviews with selected organizations to identify common themes and then a quantitative questionnaire to gain greater insight on those identified themes from a large number of respondents. The SEI will issue a report based on the study in early 2019.

Organizations participating in the study will benefit by:

• understanding their unique cyber intelligence capabilities and challenges in an environment that safeguards participant anonymity
• receiving access to study results prior to public release
• identifying technology gaps and challenges to influence potential research/prototyping efforts

For more information about the study, see https://www.sei.cmu.edu/about/organization/etc/citp.cfm. Organizations wishing to participate in the study should contact the SEI at cyber-intel@sei.cmu.edu.

Source: SEI