IARPA to Host Cyberpsychology Event in February

The Intelligence Advanced Research Projects Activity plans to host an event in San Diego to learn how to defeat cyber threat actors using psychology.

According to IARPA, the Reimagining Security with Cyberpsychology-Informed Network Defense program will allow participants to engage in five-minute lightning talks about identifying the cognitive biases and limitations of cyber attackers and how to use such limits against them.

IARPA also wants to create algorithms that would automatically exploit such psychological vulnerabilities.

ReSCIND program is scheduled for Feb. 28. Interested participants have until Feb. 13 to register, FCW reported Tuesday.

Cyberpsychology is a developing field that looks into how interactions with internet-connected devices affect the mental well-being and decision-making of people. Psychologists have also been looking at how cyber attackers have exploited cognitive biases in their campaigns, as well as how the attackers themselves suffer from similar vulnerabilities, which defenders could take advantage of.

In September, IARPA issued a request for information about such cognitive weaknesses affecting cyber attackers.

A 2019 paper from Arizona State University, the Laboratory for Advanced Cybersecurity Research and the Naval Information Warfare Center revealed that one way to use cyberpsychology in cyber defense is through Oppositional Human Factors. OHF uses recommendations that normally improve behavior to achieve the opposite of its targets against adversaries and potentially reduce threats.

Through the ReSCIND Program, IARPA wants to gain insights into OHF and other cyberpsychological methods.