Software Engineering Institute

Cybersecurity data science (CDS) is a fast emerging professional discipline. The field seeks to apply data analytics methods and processes to goals and practices associated with cybersecurity. As an emerging domain, many aspects of mature professions–standards, best practices, a body of knowledge–are still evolving.

The rapid evolution of technical infrastructure and tools, cyber threats, and data science methods, as well as political, regulatory, legal, and organizational complexities, combine to make this a challenging domain. Collaboration is difficult as practitioners often work in secrecy, organizational isolation, and under tight tactical pressures.

This presentation seeks to derive and categorize a set of common threads which characterize the emerging professional discipline from the perspective of practitioners. A comprehensive examination of the nascent profession is offered with a view to iterating towards professionalization.