Main Subcommittee Category
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GovernmentAbstract
Cyberspace underpins all aspects of all modern military operations, across all domains. Therefore, it is paramount that we maintain and grow our capability to conduct defensive cyber operations to prevent, nullify or reduce the effectiveness of adversary actions to preserve our freedom of action during operations. In order to prepare future forces, it is critical that the effects of cyber are accurately represented in future synthetic training systems. Several individual Defence Science & Technology Laboratory (Dstl) activities have demonstrated how it is possible in theory to represent and distribute cyber effects in a synthetic environment. This paper describes the creation of a Cyber Effects Testbed which has integrated existing tools to demonstrate a combined approach. The Cyber Effects Testbed sought to investigate concepts for replicating realistic cyber effects in virtual & constructive simulations using open standards. It was essential that open standards were used to support reuse of existing models and ensure value for money for defence. This paper explains how an existing interoperable simulation architecture, using High Level Architecture (HLA), was expanded to include the Simulation Interoperability Standards Organisation (SISO) Cyber Data Exchange Model (DEM). This enables incorporation of existing cyber products including an adversarial emulation framework and a cyber system simulation into a HLA federation where effects (e.g. system performance) can be observed through two commonly used COTS simulation products. Findings will identify challenges and lessons to provide an evidence base to support both future advice and guidance to the UK Ministry of Defence as well as contributing to NATO Modelling and Simulation Group (MSG) 200 in their effort to model cyber domain entities and events within distributed simulations. MSG 200 will also provide recommendations to the SISO Product Development Group and in turn this research will contribute to the future development of the Cyber DEM standard. Cyberspace underpins all aspects of all