Research Program 3 - Cyberspace and Information
The operational capabilities of the Swiss Armed Forces in cyberspace are increasing in importance. The Cyberspace and Information research program is building up the requisite expertise in order to expand the traditional military capabilities in the intelligence service and defence in the cyberspace field of operations. This is ensured through research projects and demonstrators in laboratory tests and in the real environment.
The constant further development and penetration of information technologies (IT) in society are making cyberspace an important area for modern conflicts and wars. The likelihood of cyberspace attacks occurring in Switzerland is very high, yet it is hard to predict how much damage could be caused. At the same time, cyberspace presents new opportunities as a military area of operations for gathering information that is more topical, comprehensive and of a better quality.
The aim of the program is to develop and secure expertise in information technologies for the procurement, management and analysis of information from cyberspace as well as to identify and evaluate the associated risks. Due to the very short technology cycles and the rapidly changing level of threat, the research focuses are guided agilely by the current trends and the needs of the Swiss Armed Forces. The research activities are currently concentrating on five competence areas: cyber defence, information management, the procurement of information, information fusion and visualisation, as well as machine learning and data mining.
In order to protect our own networks, expertise is being developed which supports the action plan for cyber defence in defending against attacks. Concepts that identify anomalies in the data traffic in our own networks and that actively combat attacks are being developed.
Due to modern communications media, cyberspace has developed into an area that holds a wealth of information which can also be used for military operations. For example, social media and the Internet of Things (IoT) provide real time and comprehensive information.
Through the management and analysis of large volumes of unstructured data (Big Data), selective information can be processed and visualised in line with the needs of decision-makers. To this end, military expertise must be combined with the basic technological and scientific principles. The Cyberspace and information research program secures the requisite technological expertise with the help of a wide-ranging international network of experts, comprising universities, industry and governmental partners.
Competence areas
The misuse of information and communications infrastructures for criminal, intelligence, power-political and terrorist purposes is reduced through digital networking. In order to detect threats early and increase our defensive capabilities in cyberspace, research is being carried out into developing new security technologies and cyber defence concepts.
Having the right information of the right level of quality and at the right time is essential for operational command and control. Expertise is developed with the aim of being able to evaluate modern information systems and architectures with regard to the increasing volume, speed and heterogeneity of the data from cyberspace (the Big Data problem).
The procurement of information from sources in cyberspace that are accessible to the public presents new opportunities as well as significant risks. New processes for procuring information are being researched and approaches evaluated in order to better protect the interests and identities of the people searching for information.
Modern analysis processes require data from different sensors and information sources to be pooled together so that it can be contextualised. Here, we focus on new semantic and probabilistic methods for consolidating and visualising information for monitoring the progress of a situation and issuing alerts.
In order to find patterns and trends in a wide range of data sets, research is being carried out into machine-learning-based algorithms. The activities target a wide range of potential applications, such as anomaly detection, the classification of signals, texts, languages and images, as well as the analysis of networks.
Technology demonstrators
Analysing information from social media presents novel technical and analytical challenges. A demonstrator is being developed at S+T to investigate and present in a simple way technologies and procedures for acquiring information from, analysing and visualizing data obtained from social media.
Detect and Localize GPS Spoofing Attacks
Network
A wide network of partners from the professional world, academia, universities and other research institutes in Switzerland and abroad is actively used and maintained in order to develop expertise. In order to keep track of skills and capabilities, close contact and an exchange of information is maintained with users and the planning, procurement and test centres of the DDPS.
Research Program Manager
Our «Cyberspace and Information» research program manager is delighted at your interest.
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Fact-Sheet Research Program 3 – Cyberspace and Information
PDF, 2 Pages, 127 KB
Feuerwerkerstrasse 39
CH-3602 Thun
- Tel.
- +41 58 468 27 68
Research Program Manager
Dr. Vincent Lenders
Science and Technology
Field of Study C4I Networks
Feuerwerkerstrasse 39
CH-3602 Thun