SBIR-STTR Award

There is ample evidence and channels for US military operational information to be released via social media and the interment; possibly compromising OPSEC. Tools to accurately identify what publicly available information is out there are lacking and even if these data were readily available, the volume is quite significant and tools to integrate and analyze are likewise lacking. Moving from oversight to OPSEC, commanders clearly need a way to correlate open social media activities as risks to missions. Methods are needed to assess the vulnerabilities (in real time) and how to manage them. IST Research proposes to develop the Managing Operations Security Tool (MOST) System to provide large-scale detection and analysis of social media and other open personally identifiable information (PII) to identify possible threats to OPSEC. Furthermore, this system will provide the means, in the face of OPSEC violations, to counter the open information. By the completion of Phase II, we propose to build a prototype PII monitoring and analysis service composed of streaming processing, storage, querying, and analysis of publicly available internet and social media data; validated algorithms for threat detection; and tactics, techniques and tools to conduct counter campaigns that will obfuscate these open data vulnerabilities.

Ample evidence exists that US military operational information is released via social media and internet sources; possibly compromising operational security (OPSEC). IST Research designed, in Phase I, Managing Operations Security Tool (MOST) to detect and characterize these OPSEC threats in online data and propose mitigation techniques. MOST supports identity management and force protection professionals by enabling rapid discovery and communication of OPSEC and other on-line threats. In Phase II, IST proposes to complete MOST development to provide a comprehensive monitoring and analysis system composed of streaming processing, storage, querying, and analysis of publicly available on-line data; validated algorithms for threat detection; and tactics, techniques and tools to address open data vulnerabilities. More specifically, MOST will allow for systematic data collection based on our extensive experience in the developing and deploying Pulse, a proven technology platform that enables real-time information collection across the internet and from hard-to-reach populations. Additionally, based on Phase I research, MOST will support established mission workflows, provide automated data discovery and threat detection algorithms, and generate automated OPSEC threats reports and potential mitigation strategies. Phase II MOST will provide reliable data streams paired with validated, automated processes to detect and respond to undesirable online data.