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During a brainstorming discussion with a colleague on the value of entropy in machine learning models, specifically the models used in threat intelligence work, I mentioned that many of the threat intelligence models in use today seem to overemphasize the pattern recognition aspect of threat intelligence through the egregious use of algorithms. By contrast, they seem to underemphasize the novelty of suchaspects as intuition and chaos, both of which would be present if two malicious actors were pitted against a defensive system that is nothing more than an artificially intelligent system with lots of machine learning algorithms. Then I thought about the game of chess, which cognitive psychologists have studied with great interest for more than 70 years. I did a bit of my own research to see what aspects of chess psychologists found most intriguing, and whetherany of their findings could be used to build better threat intelligence programs.

The 1965 book Thought and Choice in Chess,by Adriaan D de. Groot, seems to have laid the foundation for the study of psychology in chess. There are several other psychologists who studied the game and its players; William Chase, Herbert Simon and Dr. Ferdinand Gobet are worth mentioning. The short synopsis of their combined research on the best chess players is as follows:

There are many more findings published on the cognitive aspects of chess, but this short list led to something researchers today callChunk Hierarchy and REtrival STructures(CHREST). CHREST,in turn, led to the design of computational models that could help psychologists understand why chess experts are so good at the game, by studying the number of moves the typical chess expert memorizes and how an expertorganizes information mentally while playing. The research into CHREST, in turn, led to the development of mathematical models for hierarchical chunking in the brain to help cognitive scientists understand how the brain ingests, organizes, stores and later retrieves information.

So what does all this research on the game of chess have to do with threat intelligence? A great deal. CHREST and the subsequent mathematical models for hierarchy and retrieval structures underpin the databases, algorithms and artificially intelligent software used for threat hunting and by the threat intelligence correlation engines today (as well as other types of technology).

Threat hunters today are much likeplayers in a game of chess where the adversary maneuvers in much the same ways as an opponent across a grand chess board. A good threat hunter can determine just who that opponent is, based on the moveshe or she makes. We consider adversarial activity as tactics, techniques and procedures just as we consider a chess opponents moves as rooted in strategy where the decisions made are based upon patterns and models. One could easily consider the science of threat intelligence as the identification of these patterns as quickly as possible to predict future action and to engage appropriate response maneuvers. However, where does the science of threat intelligence intersect the art of intuitive prediction based on skilland experience? How can an analyst derive meaning and predictive value in a seemingly chaotic engagement?

Interestingly, one of the experiments with the CHREST model showed that expert chess players havesuperior memory recall for chess positions that are considered random by weaker players. Why is this important? Because it shows that expert players are not only playing the game based upon the patterns they know or the visual representation they have of the chess board in their minds, they are also playing by intuition or gut-feeling something no mathematical model, machine learning algorithm or artificially intelligent system can duplicate today.

By allowing a team of analysts to rely on their expertise with the introduction of chaos and entropy, we can glean the actions and strategic moves that wed the science of threats with the art of analysis. Then we can truly provide a robust threat intelligence gathering effort that provides threat actor identification, activity prediction, mitigation and response strategies.

To harness the threat intelligence power enabled by chaos and entropy, we can take the followinglessons from the game of chess:

All of this analysis sounds glorious for large firms with lots of available capital. For small businesses with limited access to both financial and human capital, building a sophisticated threat intelligence team is extremely difficult to achieve.Small businesses:

What could a small business or firm do with a limited budget and no sophisticated COTS solution? Itcan hire entry-level cyber security professionals who have a love for the game of chess, because those individuals will bring with them the following capabilities:

Skills such as those needed to findOWASP Top 10 vulnerabilities within an application stack can be taught through suchsites as HackerOne. The best hackers we have ever met had something in common with the best chess players we know a love for the game.

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Management and Strategy Consultant, IBM

Kelly is a management and strategy consultant with over 20 years of consulting experience ranging from security analysis, to functional analysis to security ... read more

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A Grand Game of Chess: Entropy and Patterns in Threat Intelligence Models - Security Intelligence

Herbert B. Jacklyn, Courtesy of Family

US Chess recently received a bequest to support the continued development of chess players between the age of 18 and 21. The endowed fund will be known as the Herbert B. Jacklyn Fund.

According to his family, Mr. Jacklyn wanted young chess players to continue enjoying and competing in chess as they entered adulthood. It was a game he loved his entire life and he didn't want people to lose interest or stop playing as they moved on in life.

Herbert Jacklyn was born on December 18, 1924.He grew up in The Bronx and graduated from Columbia University Dental School. He served as an army medic in World War II, where he was stationed in Okinawa and was awarded a purple heart during his service.

He always loved chess and during the 1960s and 1970s he was very active in the local chess clubs and in US Chess. While he made it to a Class A ranking, he also instilled a love of chess in his two sons. Daniel Jacklyn reached Expertand Paul Jacklyn reached Master.

His love for chess continued well into his nineties. Even then, while living in Florida, he was involved in organizing chess tournaments for children in local elementary schools, who all looked up to him and referred to him as the "Chess Master."Mr. Jacklyn passed away on March 8, 2020 at the age of 95.

US Chess will develop guidelines for the Jacklyn Fund program, funded through income generated by the Jacklyn Fund.

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The Herbert B. Jacklyn Fund to Support Players Between Ages 18 and 21 - uschess.org

As chess has surged in popularity on Twitch, so have some of the timeless game's more charismatic professional players, like sisters Alexandra and Andrea Botez.

Chess has existed in some form since the 6th century, with the standardization of its pieces coming in the 15th century and its rules in the 19th century. But the ancient game hadnt fared well competing for views on Twitch until March 2020, when growth became substantial before turning exponential in May. The Botez sisters have been key to its surge.

Alexandra and Andrea are funny, engaging, and absolute savages on the chess board. While the chess community has been lambasted as elitist for gate-keeping against casuals, the Botez sisters feel like real people who just want to help the community grow (and maybe roast people, or themselves, along the way).

Alexandra, the older of the two, is just 24 years old but already an established force within the chess community, boasting the Woman FIDE Master title and numerous championships dating back to her time with the National Canadian Team as a 15-year-old.

Andrea, conversely, is just out of high school and devoid of international chess recognition despite being a talented player herself, with national competitions and some prize money under her belt. Together, theyre talented enough to help tutor celebrities like Hafthor the Mountain Bjornsson, but also humble enough to engage with their communities outside of the chess board.

That dynamic exemplifies the meteoric rise of chess on Twitch. The intrinsic qualities of chess, with its high skill-ceiling and steep learning curve, are not foreign to Twitch users. However, the game has lacked the interest of popular streamers and community engagement from skilled players. That changed in May 2020 when Grandmaster Hikaru Nakamura decided to take the infamous Felix xQc Lengyel under his wing.

Often working alongside Nakamura, whether by providing tutelage, competing, or simply commentating in a burgeoning online chess scene, the Botez sisters have carved out a tremendous niche. Their channel has since gone from about 73,000 followers in May to near 250,000.

With Twitch popularity dictated by both in-game talent and the ability to foster community, Alexandra and Andreas ability to mesh technical superiority with community engagement is unparalleled in chess. While Hikaru can be hilarious himself (especially when hes dryly poking fun at players), the Botez sisters are entrenched in the platforms culture and are avid propagators of the memes and conversations that help develop a fanbase with a foundation not solely built on raw chess skill.

Whether its dissecting chess matches, trying out games like Griftlands, or simply talking with (or roasting) their peers and fans on Just Chatting, the Botez sisters prove how much stronger your community can become when top players dont take themselves too seriously.

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Who are Alexandra and Andrea Botez? The chess queens of Twitch - Dexerto

Weve seen the workout videos and the bombs that Washington Redskins quarterback Dwayne Haskins has been letting loose on the field this offseason, and nearly every fan of the team is hoping that it leads to success in the regular season and beyond.

However, its important to note that not all of Haskins struggles were physical in 2019 a lot had to to with mental decisions on third downs, and even some maturity questions off the field. So while we cant see how that side of his game is improving, we are at least getting more information on what the young QB is doing in order to build up his mental fortitude.

Hes been playing a lot of chess.

While working with QB trainer Quincy Avery, Haskins has been joining up with other NFL players to improve an intangible skill: brainpower.

I got each of my quarterbacks with a chess pro, Seth Makowsky, Avery said on The MMQB Podcast. So I got them all playing chess to that we can start coming up with procedures that we can go through not only in chess but at the line of scrimmage.

So the same way we go to a chessboard, I look left to right, identify my threats, where am I under attack, how can I attack them those are the same sort of steps that I need to take when I approach the line of scrimmage.

It may not result in more accurate passes or a few extra scrambling yards, but being able to dissect schemes at the line of scrimmage should directly result in fewer sacks and better blitz pick-ups.

Whats the front, which way are the safeties rotating, who can bring me pressure, how do I protect myself from that pressure, how do I attack the defense, Avery said, drawing a parallel from the chess board to the gridiron. Its having a checklist of things that you ned to do every time you come to the line of scrimmage so youre not wasting mental energy trying to figure things out at the last minute, so youre not getting beat by blitzes because you just didnt check something that you shouldve checked and you wouldve if you had the same process every time you came to the line of scrimmage.

If I get my guys doing this and each one of them has really bought in I think that its going to pay real dividends and these guys are going to reap the benefits this upcoming season.

Later in the interview, Avery went on to commend Haskins for his growth in 2019 despite being in a tough situation, and he even said that he believes the Redskins QB has one of the better Football IQs that hes been around. Based on the physical improvements weve seen from Haskins this offseason, we can only hope that all of this work will start to show itself on the field in 2020 and that it will result in more successes and wins.

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Dwayne Haskins is playing chess to improve decision-making ahead of 2020 season - Redskins Wire

Chinese strategist Sun Tzus most famous aphorism goes something like this. He said, If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles

Strategists learn about adversaries by observing their actions and statements, interpreting their behaviour, and studying their leaders. But the more astute understand the enemies mindset by studying their culture.

Leaders and tactics may change, but strategies and doctrines are embedded in the culture and mindset of a nation and are, therefore, far better predictors of their actions. Both China and India have a rich culture and several texts that explain respective mindsets but an easier way to explain the difference is to study the strategy games of the two nations.

Chess originated in India. The game is played by two players on a board of 64 squares with 16 white and black pieces each. The opponents start the game with all their pieces arraigned against each other and each player moves alternatively. The pieces have powers in hierarchical order with the queen being most powerful. All pieces change their positions continuously during the game.

As those familiar with chess know, it is a game of manoeuvre that has one centre of gravity the king; and the objective is to capture or kill the opponents king. The loss of rest of the pieces or their positions at the end of the game is immaterial.

The Chinese strategy game, however, is igo commonly known as Go. It is played on a much larger board that has 19x19 sides resulting in 361 points compared to the 64 squares in Chess. In Go, the stones are positioned on the intersections of the squares to deny liberty to the opponents stones. Go also has white and black pieces called stones, but that is where the similarity with chess ends. The objective of Go is not to capture any single piece; instead, it is to surround a larger total area of the board with ones stones before the opponent. As the game progresses, the players position stones on the board to map out formations and potential territories. Contests between opposing formations result in the expansion, reduction, or capture and loss of stones. The winner is decided by counting each players surrounded territory along with captured stones.

China has been playing Go, not chess with India. It has been playing the game on a multi-dimensional canvas much larger than the Indian landmass and across several spectrums, ranging from the military to the economic intersections blocking Indias liberty or manoeuvrability over a long period. It has inveigled every neighbour of India by coaxing, cajoling, or enticing them into its camp. It has infiltrated into Indias economic, infrastructure, health care, communication and technological value chain so inextricably that, contrary to silly calls for boycotting Chinese goods, India cannot meaningfully disengage its dependence on China.

While there is no doubting the valour of our army, the cost of militarily confronting an adversary whose economy is over five times as large as ours and whose defence budget is four times ours would be horrendous in human and economic terms for decades to come. This is particularly so because China has turned Indias northern and western neighbours into its surrogate pincers tying down a large part of our military assets and strategic mindshare. If India does consider the military option, it will have to factor in Chinas overwhelming superiority in the Ladakh region specifically, and in electronic warfare, cyberwar, drones, missiles and the nuclear arsenal of the Peoples Liberation Army generally.

The word igo in Mandarin literally means to encircle, and that is Chinas strategy with a combination of the String of Pearls (which refers to the sea line communications from China to the Horn of Africa through strategic choke points and maritime centres in Pakistan, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Maldives and Somalia) along Indias coastline and the Belt and Road initiative in the North. Nepal, Bhutan and now Ladakh are additional stones being placed to constrict Indias manoeuvrability from every direction.

Instead of treating these episodes as singular events, India must join the dots to appreciate the Chinese game plan and design a counter-strategy along three thrust lines.

First, an encirclement cannot be broken only from inside. Instead, India must expand the board by cooperating with countries such as Japan, Australia, Taiwan, Malaysia, South Korea, Singapore and Vietnam which are increasingly threatened by Chinas hegemonistic moves. Simultaneously, it must build pressure from within the encirclement by rapprochement with immediate neighbours such as Nepal, Bhutan and Sri Lanka. This requires us to think like a Go player and appreciate that unlike chess, the stones in Go dont have relative power. India has far greater historical synergies with every one of our neighbours including Pakistan, than China does. Each stone, or in this case, country, is important, regardless of its physical or economic size. We need to value them as equal partners in the struggle against Chinese hegemony. Second, India must recast its national security strategy horizons to decades instead of election cycles. If a governments image is interlocked with tactical timelines, then, by definition, strategy will suffer because tactical and strategic goals are usually at cross purposes. Divorcing national security from politics will enable long-term indigenous capacity-building and strengthening external alliances.

Last, and most important, India needs to consolidate its internal critical mass. The country is facing multiple challenges on several fronts, most seriously the economy. Political power, as Mao said, may grow from a barrel of a gun, but national power emanates from a strong and vibrant economy, which, in turn, requires internal peace, cooperation, and harmony to inspire customer and investor confidence. Unless those conditions are achieved, no country can aspire to be a regional power or thwart attacks on its sovereignty.

Raghu Raman is the founding CEO of NATGRID

The views expressed are personal

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China has been playing Go, not chess. India needs to learn the game | Opinion - Hindustan Times