Visualization for Cyber Complex Systems: Application, Issues and Future Work

Technology advances at a rapid pace; new components are being developed, offering opportunities to create even more intricate networks of devices, interconnected on both local and global scale, offering ever faster processing while generating vast amounts of data. Technological advancements facilitate improvements for individuals’ daily lives, our work environment, societal enhancements, military defense capabilities, etc. Unfortunately, when an issue manifests in these new networks, it is often difficult to immediately identify the origin and apply an appropriate solution in a timely fashion. The infrastructure built to sustain our society’s needs has become complicated and interconnected, evolving into a complex system rather than a complicated one. Complex systems are difficult to manage without an in-depth knowledge of the underlying components and their interactions - where the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. To aid in this task, new ways to visualize such a system of systems need to be developed to represent them accordingly and enable its operators to identify problems and apply actionable solutions. In this paper, we offer a detailed explanation on what complex systems are, the difficulty of maintaining actionable situational awareness and understanding, and how Visual Analytics and Data Visualization can help in resolving some of these issues. Examples of visual representations will be discussed, together with techniques used for their evaluations in terms of their usefulness and usability. Finally, a brief overview of possible future advancements that can support better understanding and management of complex systems will be discussed.