Cyberspace Operator
Cyberspace Operators use a wide range of software applications for network navigation, tactical forensic analysis, surveillance and reconnaissance, and executing on-net operations in support of offensive cyberspace operations when directed.
Core KSATs
KSAT ID | Description | KSAT |
---|---|---|
22 | * Knowledge of computer networking concepts and protocols, and network security methodologies. |
Knowledge |
108 | * Knowledge of risk management processes (e.g., methods for assessing and mitigating risk). |
Knowledge |
1157 | * Knowledge of national and international laws, regulations, policies, and ethics as they relate to cybersecurity. |
Knowledge |
1158 | * Knowledge of cybersecurity principles. |
Knowledge |
1159 | * Knowledge of cyber threats and vulnerabilities. |
Knowledge |
6900 | * Knowledge of specific operational impacts of cybersecurity lapses. |
Knowledge |
6935 | * Knowledge of cloud computing service models Software as a Service (SaaS), Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS), and Platform as a Service (PaaS). |
Knowledge |
6938 | * Knowledge of cloud computing deployment models in private, public, and hybrid environment and the difference between on-premises and off-premises environments. |
Knowledge |
Additional KSATs
KSAT ID | Description | KSAT |
---|---|---|
4191 | Ability to apply tradecraft to minimize risk of detection, mitigate risk, and minimize creation of behavioral signature |
Ability |
4199 | Ability to characterize a target admin/user’s technical abilities, habits, and skills. |
Ability |
4204 | Ability to communicate operational plans and actions and provide feedback regarding OPSEC and tradecraft during mission pre-brief |
Ability |
4213 | Ability to conduct open source research. |
Ability |
4219 | Ability to construct a course of action using available exploitation tools and techniques. |
Ability |
4222 | Ability to continually research and develop new tools/techniques |
Ability |
4229 | Ability to create rules and filters (e.g., Berkeley Packet Filter, Regular Expression). |
Ability |
4243 | Ability to ensure collected data is transferred to the appropriate storage locations. |
Ability |
4244 | Ability to enumerate a network. |
Ability |
4248 | Ability to enumerate user permissions and privileges. |
Ability |
4249 | Ability to evade or counter security products or host based defenses. |
Ability |
4261 | Ability to exploit vulnerabilities to gain additional access. |
Ability |
4263 | Ability to extract credentials from hosts |
Ability |
4271 | Ability to identify capability gaps (e.g., insufficient tools, training, or infrastructure) |
Ability |
4276 | Ability to identify files containing information critical to operational objectives. |
Ability |
4278 | Ability to identify legal, policy, and technical limitations when conducting cyberspace operations. |
Ability |
4279 | Ability to identify logging capabilities on host |
Ability |
4285 | Ability to identify what tools or Tactics, Techniques, and Procedures (TTPs) are applicable to a given situation |
Ability |
4292 | Ability to improve the performance of cyberspace operators by providing constructive (positive and negative) feedback. |
Ability |
4293 | Ability to install/modify/uninstall tools on target systems in accordance with current policies and procedures. |
Ability |
4296 | Ability to interpret device configurations. |
Ability |
4297 | Ability to interpret technical materials such as RFCs and technical manuals. |
Ability |
4298 | Ability to maintain situational awareness of target environment. |
Ability |
4305 | Ability to model a simulated environment to conduct mission rehearsal and mitigate risk of actions taken during operations. |
Ability |
4308 | Ability to operate automated systems to interact with target environment. |
Ability |
4324 | Ability to perform masquerade operations. |
Ability |
4325 | Ability to perform privilege escalation. |
Ability |
4327 | Ability to persist access to a target. |
Ability |
4330 | Ability to plan, brief, execute, and debrief a mission. |
Ability |
4334 | Ability to promote and enable organizational change. |
Ability |
4335 | Ability to provide advice and guidance to various stakeholders regarding technical issues, capabilities, and approaches. |
Ability |
4336 | Ability to provide feedback to developers if a tool requires continued development. |
Ability |
4340 | Ability to provide technical leadership within an organization. |
Ability |
4341 | Ability to read, write, modify, and execute compiled languages (e.g., C). |
Ability |
4342 | Ability to recognize and extract salient information from large data set (e.g., critical information, anomalies). |
Ability |
4343 | Ability to recognize and report mistakes or poor tradecraft to appropriate leadership in accordance with Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs). |
Ability |
4344 | Ability to recognize and respond appropriately to Non-Standard Events. |
Ability |
4345 | Ability to redirect and tunnel through target systems. |
Ability |
4346 | Ability to remediate indicators of compromise. |
Ability |
4347 | Ability to research non-standards within a project. |
Ability |
4350 | Ability to retrieve historical operational and open-source data to analyze compatibility with approved capabilities. |
Ability |
4359 | Ability to train other cyberspace operators. |
Ability |
4361 | Ability to troubleshoot technical problems. |
Ability |
4367 | Ability to use core toolset (e.g., implants, remote access tools). |
Ability |
4369 | Ability to use dynamic analysis tools (e.g. process monitor, process explorer, and registry analysis) |
Ability |
4370 | Ability to use enterprise tools to enumerate target information. |
Ability |
4378 | Ability to verify file integrity for both uploads and downloads. |
Ability |
4379 | Ability to weaken a target to facilitate/enable future access. |
Ability |
4380 | Ability to write and modify markup languages (e.g., HTML, XML). |
Ability |
4381 | Ability to write and modify source code (e.g., C). |
Ability |
4388 | Knowledge of access control models (Role Based Access Control, Attribute Based Access Control). |
Knowledge |
4391 | Knowledge of advanced redirection techniques. |
Knowledge |
4393 | Knowledge of appropriate/inappropriate information to include in operational documentation (e.g., OPNOTES, technical summaries, action maps, etc.). |
Knowledge |
4395 | Knowledge of basic client software applications and their attack surfaces. |
Knowledge |
4396 | Knowledge of basic cloud-based technologies and concepts. |
Knowledge |
4399 | Knowledge of basic Embedded Systems concepts. |
Knowledge |
4402 | Knowledge of basic redirection techniques (e.g. IP Tables, SSH Tunneling, netsh) |
Knowledge |
4403 | Knowledge of basic server software applications and their attack surfaces. |
Knowledge |
4404 | Knowledge of code injection and its employment in cyberspace operations. |
Knowledge |
4414 | Knowledge of common network administration best practices and the impact to operations. |
Knowledge |
4419 | Knowledge of credential sources and restrictions related to credential usage. |
Knowledge |
4437 | Knowledge of device reboots, including when they occur and their impact on tool functionality. |
Knowledge |
4444 | Knowledge of evolving technologies. |
Knowledge |
4447 | Knowledge of factors that would suspend or abort an operation. |
Knowledge |
4458 | Knowledge of historical data relating to particular targets and projects, prior to an operation to include reviewing TECHSUMs, previous OPNOTEs, etc. |
Knowledge |
4463 | Knowledge of how computer programs are executed |
Knowledge |
4464 | Knowledge of how host-based security products, logging, and malware may affect tool functionality |
Knowledge |
4465 | Knowledge of how other actors may affect operations |
Knowledge |
4466 | Knowledge of how race conditions occur and can be employed to compromise shared resources |
Knowledge |
4482 | Knowledge of malware triage. |
Knowledge |
4485 | Knowledge of methods and procedures for sending a payload via an existing implant |
Knowledge |
4486 | Knowledge of methods, strategies, and techniques of evading detection while conducting operations, such as noise, stealth, situational awareness, etc. |
Knowledge |
4487 | Knowledge of methods, tools, and procedures for collecting information, including accessing databases and file systems |
Knowledge |
4488 | Knowledge of methods, tools, and procedures for exploiting target systems |
Knowledge |
4489 | Knowledge of methods, tools, and techniques used to determine the path to a target host/network (e.g., identify satellite hops). |
Knowledge |
4496 | Knowledge of models for examining cyber threats (e.g. cyber kill chain, MITRE ATT&CK). |
Knowledge |
4498 | Knowledge of modes of communication used by a target, such as cable, fiber optic, satellite, microwave, VSAT, or combinations of these. |
Knowledge |
4502 | Knowledge of open source tactics that enable initial access (e.g. social engineering, phishing) |
Knowledge |
4503 | Knowledge of operating system command shells, configuration data. |
Knowledge |
4505 | Knowledge of operational infrastructure |
Knowledge |
4508 | Knowledge of operational security, logging, admin concepts, and troubleshooting. |
Knowledge |
4510 | Knowledge of password cracking techniques. |
Knowledge |
4519 | Knowledge of process migration |
Knowledge |
4540 | Knowledge of system administration concepts for distributed or managed operating environments. |
Knowledge |
4541 | Knowledge of system administration concepts for stand alone operating systems. |
Knowledge |
4542 | Knowledge of system calls |
Knowledge |
4552 | Knowledge of the components of an authentication system. |
Knowledge |
4553 | Knowledge of the concept of an advanced persistent threat (APT) |
Knowledge |
4563 | Knowledge of the location and use of tool documentation. |
Knowledge |
4564 | Knowledge of the methods and procedures for communicating with tools/modules, including the use of listening posts. |
Knowledge |
4565 | Knowledge of the methods of persistence. |
Knowledge |
4567 | Knowledge of the Mission Improvement Process |
Knowledge |
4571 | Knowledge of the Plan, Brief, Execute, and Debrief process |
Knowledge |
4581 | Knowledge of the tactics development process |
Knowledge |
4586 | Knowledge of threats to OPSEC when installing, using, modifying, and uninstalling tools. |
Knowledge |
4587 | Knowledge of tool release/testing process |
Knowledge |
4593 | Knowledge of VPNs, their purpose, and how they can be leveraged. |
Knowledge |
4628 | Skill in enumerating a host (e.g. file systems, host meta data host characteristics). |
Skill |
4641 | Skill in manipulating firewall/host based security configuration and rulesets. |
Skill |
4663 | Skill in retrieving memory resident data. |
Skill |
4670 | Skill in transferring files to target devices (e.g., scp, tftp, http, ftp). |
Skill |
4674 | Skill in using network enumeration and analysis tools, both active and passive. |
Skill |
8001 | Advise leadership on operational tradecraft, emerging technology, and technical health of the force. |
Task |
8015 | Approve remediation actions. |
Task |
8017 | As authorized, train cyberspace operators at one’s certification level or below. |
Task |
8020 | Assess the technical health of the cyberspace operator work role. |
Task |
8021 | Assess, recommend, and evaluate remediation actions. |
Task |
8030 | Conduct cyber activities to deny, degrade, disrupt, destroy, manipulate, (D4M). |
Task |
8037 | Conduct post-mission actions. |
Task |
8039 | Conduct pre-mission actions |
Task |
8040 | Conduct pre-operation research and prep. |
Task |
8052 | Create/normalize/document/evaluate TTPs in cyberspace operations. |
Task |
8067 | Develop and/or inform risk assessments. |
Task |
8071 | Develop Operational Training Solultions. |
Task |
8073 | Develop remediation actions. |
Task |
8074 | Develop risk assessments for non-standard events and ad hoc tradecraft. |
Task |
8083 | Employ collection TTPs in cyberspace operations. |
Task |
8084 | Employ credential access TTPs in cyberspace operations. |
Task |
8086 | Employ discovery TTPs in cyberspace operations. |
Task |
8087 | Employ exfiltration TTPs in cyberspace operations. |
Task |
8088 | Employ lateral movement TTPs in cyberspace operations. |
Task |
8089 | Employ TTPs in categories at one’s certification level or below. |
Task |
8097 | Evaluate cyberspace operator performance at one’s certification level or below. |
Task |
8112 | Identify targets of opportunity in order to influence operational planning. |
Task |
8113 | Identify the appropriate operating authorities and guidance |
Task |
8130 | Maintain operational and technical situational awareness during operations |
Task |
8158 | Produce strategy to inform commander’s decision making process. |
Task |
8167 | Provide input to mission debrief. |
Task |
8168 | Provide input to operational policy. |
Task |
8169 | Provide input to post mission planning. |
Task |
8170 | Provide input to pre-mission planning. |
Task |
8174 | Provide oversight of operations. |
Task |
8175 | Provide quality control of operations and cyberspace operator products at one’s certification level or below. |
Task |
8181 | Recognize and respond to indicators of compromise (IOC). |
Task |
8183 | Recognize and respond to events that change risk. |
Task |
8184 | Record and document activities during cyberspace operations. |
Task |
8192 | Steward the cyberspace operator work role. |
Task |
8197 | Train cyberspace operators at their certified level or below. |
Task |