"IARPA Aims to Thwart Cyberattacks With Psychology"

The leading research agency in the Intelligence Community wants to develop new algorithms to counter cyberattacks by psyching out the malicious actors behind them. The Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity (IARPA) plans to organize an event to gain insight into defeating cyberattackers by exploiting their decision-making biases and cognitive vulnerabilities. The IARPA program Reimagining Security with Cyberpsychology-Informed Network Defenses (ReSCIND) will hold a proposers' day, welcoming registrants to participate in a series of five-minute lightning talks discussing how human psychological limitations can be identified, measured, influenced, and eventually automated to counter cyberattack behavior. Cyberpsychology has evolved into a growing study of human interactions with Internet-connected devices, focusing on areas where web-based tools can influence mental health or decision-making. Understanding human behavior as it relates to cybersecurity has become a growing research subject, specifically around how malicious actors can exploit decision-making abilities. Psychologists are looking at how adversaries use cognitive biases in socially engineered cyberattacks and disinformation operations, as well as how cybersecurity could weaponize the attackers' biases. In September 2022, IARPA issued a cyberpsychology request for information, saying that cognitive effects relevant to cyberattackers have started to be hypothesized, but only a few have been proven in terms of cybersecurity. This article continues to discuss IARPA's quest to combat cyberattacks with psychology. 

FCW reports "IARPA Aims to Thwart Cyberattacks With Psychology"