Visual Discovery in Computer Network Defense

Computer network defense (CND) requires analysts to detect both known and novel forms of attacks in massive volumes of network data. It´s through discovering the unexpected that CND analysts detect new versions of mal ware (such as viruses and Trojan horses) that have passed through their antivirus products, new methods of intrusion that have breached their firewalls and intrusion detection systems (IDSs), and new groups of cyber-criminals pressing the attack. This paper presents visual assistant for information assurance analysis. VIAssist is a visualization framework based on a comprehensive cognitive task analysis of CND analysts, and so fits their work practices and operational environment.