Sol: An Agent-Based Framework for Cyber Situation Awareness

• Published in: KI. Künstliche Intelligenz (Oldenbourg) 2012-05, Vol.26 (2), p.127-140
• Main Authors: Bradshaw, Jeffrey M., Carvalho, Marco, Bunch, Larry, Eskridge, Tom, Feltovich, Paul J., Johnson, Matt, Kidwell, Dan
• Format: Magazinearticle
• Language: English
• Subjects: Artificial Intelligence; Computer Science; Fachbeitrag; Software Engineering/Programming and Operating Systems
• ISSN: 0933-1875; 1610-1987
• DOI: 10.1007/s13218-012-0179-2

In this article, we describe how we augment human perception and cognition through Sol, an agent-based framework for distributed sensemaking. We describe how our visualization approach , based on IHMC’s OZ flight display, has been leveraged and extended in our development of the Flow Capacitor , an analyst display for maintaining cyber situation awareness, and in the Parallel Coordinates 3D Observatory (PC3O or Observatory), a generalization of the Flow Capacitor that provides capabilities for developing and exploring lines of inquiry. We then introduce the primary implementation frameworks that provide the core capabilities of Sol: the Luna Software Agent Framework , the VIA Cross-Layer Communications Substrate , and the KAoS Policy Services Framework . We show how policy-governed agents can perform much of the tedious high-tempo tasks of analysts and facilitate collaboration. Much of the power of Sol lies in the concept of coactive emergence , whereby a comprehension of complex situations is achieved through the collaboration of analysts and agents working together in tandem. Not only can the approach embodied in Sol lead to a qualitative improvement in cyber situation awareness, but its approach is equally relevant to applications of distributed sensemaking for other kinds of complex high-tempo tasks.