Strategies & Capabilities for Cyber Challenges Resident Education Course - Defense Security Cooperation University

In July, the Institute for Security Governance (ISG) hosted its first resident educational event since early 2020. This four-week course entitled “Strategies and Capabilities for Cyber Challenges” is specifically designed for planners and those who advise senior leadership at operational headquarters and commands, and at ministries of defense, foreign affairs, and communications. Participants traveled to Monterey from twenty-three countries including Colombia, Cyprus, Egypt, Jamaica, Jordan, Malaysia, Morocco, Panama, the Philippines, Saudi Arabia, Thailand, and the United States. Notably, this was the first ISG course attended by Cypriot participants.

The objectives of this course are to equip participants with the knowledge and tools necessary to recognize cyber threats and to effectively analyze, design, and implement strategies for navigating cyber spaces safely and securely. Course materials cover topics from cyber-attack trends, vectors, and vulnerabilities to data analytics and emerging innovations in the field of cybersecurity.

As the Department of Defense’s Center of Excellence for Institutional Capacity Building (ICB), ISG understands that Cyberspace Capacity Building (CCB) is a crucial aspect of building partner institutional capacity to meet shared Security Cooperation objectives. With militaries and societies relying increasingly on cyberspace every year and nearly 60% of the world’s population actively using the internet, this course supports CCB by educating participants about today’s most prevalent cyber challenges. For example, ISG’s Building Capable Cybersecurity Institutions ICB Smart Sheet details how “Hacktivists, criminals, and malign nation-states of all sizes exploit cyber vulnerabilities to compromise private data, steal intellectual property, evade sanctions, or otherwise threaten national and economic security.” As such, Course Director Dr. Scott Jasper explains that “The Cyber Course provides innate knowledge of security frameworks and emerging technologies for participants to defend their nation from sophisticated cyber threats.” To facilitate the best quality of learning, ISG employs a faculty team of experts with experience from academic, military, government, and civil sectors.

Following the conclusion of the “Strategies and Capabilities for Cyber Challenges” course, participants returned home with the tools to be conversant in the legal and legislative aspects of cyber security including national regulations and laws, as well as international regimes and norms. They will also be able to identify emerging technologies and security practices to counter the tactics of harmful cyber actors.

Thomas Wingfield, Senior Lecturer in the Peace & Security (P&S) Division commented on the course, saying: “This course is our best of breed: four weeks of concentrated graduate-level strategic cyber education for rising leaders from around the world. We hope they leave Monterey with broadened horizons, a new network of international colleagues, and, we hope, some wonderful memories of their American friends at ISG.”