Eating the elephant: A structural outline of cyber counterintelligence awareness and training

Thenjiwe Sithole, Petrus Duvenage, Victor Jaquire, Sebastian Von Solms

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingConference contributionpeer-review

1 Citation (Scopus)

Abstract

It is widely acknowledged that conventional cyber security solutions alone are wholly insufficient in the face of threats posed by role players such as nation states, criminal syndicates, corporate spies, terrorists, hacktivists and rogue individuals. The securing of cyber space depends not only on raising the bar in respect of defensive measures, but also needs to involve proactive action focussing on threat agents. For organisations with sizable assets, cyber counterintelligence (CCI) offers a practicable approach which combines both the defensive and offensive dimensions. CCI's effective implementation and execution above all requires a coherent organisational awareness and training programme (ATP). For larger organisations, A cyber counterintelligence awareness and training programme (CCI ATP) programme has to be multi-tiered and will typically range from the elementary (e.g. basic cybersecurity awareness and skills training for all personnel) to the advanced (e.g. courses for CCI specialists on the cyber frontlines). The design of such a multi-tiered programme is self-evidently a daunting task and published academic research on this topic is very limited. This proverbial elephant thus needs to be eaten one bite at a time. This paper advances three such first 'bites', namely (i) the conceptualisation and contextualisation of a CCI ATP; (ii) a proposition on the structuring of the CCI ATP's design and implementation process; and (iii) a high-level structuring of a multi-tiered CCI ATP. The multi-tiered CCI ATP we advance in this paper consists of four tiers which are explicated with reference to inter alia target group, training objectives and training content. The paper concludes with observations on the CCI ATP research conducted thus far.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publication14th International Conference on Cyber Warfare and Security, ICCWS 2019
EditorsLouise Leenen, Noelle van der Waag-Cowling, Noelle van der Waag-Cowling
PublisherAcademic Conferences and Publishing International Limited
Pages396-404
Number of pages9
ISBN (Electronic)9781510882928
Publication statusPublished - 2019
Event14th International Conference on Cyber Warfare and Security, ICCWS 2019 - Stellenbosch, South Africa
Duration: 28 Feb 20191 Mar 2019

Publication series

Name14th International Conference on Cyber Warfare and Security, ICCWS 2019

Conference

Conference14th International Conference on Cyber Warfare and Security, ICCWS 2019
Country/TerritorySouth Africa
CityStellenbosch
Period28/02/191/03/19

Keywords

  • Cyber counterintelligence
  • Cyber security
  • Offensive cybersecurity
  • Threat intelligence
  • Training

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Computer Science Applications
  • Computer Networks and Communications
  • Safety, Risk, Reliability and Quality

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