The course explores the increasing challenges to cyber security at the national, international and transnational levels. This is a comprehensive, non-technical course, for government and private sector cyber professionals. The course is focused on deepening the understanding of the participants of the global cyber environment from two perspectives, national state power and competitiveness.
The course seeks to teach senior national leaders how to make informed decisions on cyber policy, strategy and planning within a national state power framework. The course helps participants appreciate the nature and magnitude of today's threats and develops a common understanding of current cyber initiatives and best practices within the public and private sectors.
The program is taught by recognized government and private sector experts in cyber security and allows participants to understand the need of public-private partnerships to develop the right policy and strategy for the entire nation. It encourages active cooperation at regional and international levels. This will begin with the creation of a community of practice network to establish contact with each other and other cyber-focused professionals
Major themes within the course include:
This course seeks to:
In addition, participants will be able to:
This is a four-week course, with a two-week online phase and a two-week residential phase. Participants use National Defense University's (NDU) distance learning system Blackboard, to download reading material, submit assignments and participate in video conferences. The resident phase is conducted using a combination of individual study, discussions of the readings, small-group discussions and panels, case studies and exercises.
This course is tailored for senior officials responsible for developing or influencing cyber legislation, policies, or practices. Ideally, participants should be from one of the following communities:
In accordance with Department of Defense policy, citizens of countries with designated income levels established by the World Bank are not eligible for scholarships. At this time, this restriction applies to the following Western Hemisphere nations: Antigua and Barbuda, Bahamas, Barbados, Canada, Chile, Panama, St. Kitts and Nevis, Trinidad and Tobago, and Uruguay. Citizens of these countries may still apply to courses, but in a self-funded status.
Graduates of previous in-person iterations of this course are ineligible to apply.
Candidates must possess a university degree or, in cases where a candidate does not hold a degree, equivalent practical experience. Military and police personnel must have completed a command and staff course or equivalent. Exceptions are evaluated on a case-by-case basis.
The Cyber course will be conducted in Spanish. There will be simultaneous interpretation from English during some plenary sessions. Reading skills in English are required for candidates to read course materials. English speaking skills are not required.
A sample reading is provided to give prospective participants an idea for the kinds of English-language reading materials they will be expected to deal with on a daily basis.
