Cyber Cognitive Warfighter Training

February 20-24 // Monday-Thursday 7:45-5 PM, Friday 7:45-3 PM.

Courtyard Atlanta Airport South/Sullivan Road

The course covers operational security methods, online anonymity, persona creation and management with:

• Myers-Briggs,
• the Big 5,
• the Dark Triad/Pitch Black Tetrad,
• the Psychological Techniques of the Seven Radicals,
• the Nine Enneagram Type Descriptions

Students learn about themselves, their own behaviors in optimal operating mode, under stress, and in an evil mode. We work with students to relate these modes to created personas and cyber HUMINT tactics.

Additionally, the course includes adversary targeting with cyber D3A/F3EAD. Many times it is difficult to determine the who, what and why of those who may wish ill to your organization. The course covers adversary determination, what data is needed to find them, what tools are needed to facilitate the search, and methods to passively execute this process. This is in conjunction with priority intelligence requirements.  

The course also covers areas of:

• Adversary target assessments,
• Stakeholder analysis,
• Structured analysis,
• Collection methods and tracking,
• Counterintelligence deception methods,
• Conspiracy theories,
• Russian/Chinese/Iranian cyber warfare models,
• Information warfare,
• Aspects of cognitive warfare

Students must maintain operational security of their Internet searches (Internet and Darknet) since we perform extensive research during class time. VPNs are needed and we do provide preferred VPN lists. We cover persona creation, alignment to intelligence requirements, rules of engagement for passive collection, persona character archetypes, and AI content fillers. Course lectures demonstrate browser setup (extensions/plug-ins/add-ins) for operational security, multiple browser configurations and containers for the alignment to and tracking of personas. Students learn how to test browsers for leakage.

Prior to the course, we send out minimum necessary laptop specifications, data provenance software to install along with other pre-course tools for setup.

Students must also take a few short personality tests to share during class. For US-based course locations, Treadstone 71 provides phones for students to aid with anonymity and account creation. The course also covers social media account setup, extensive use of open-source tools, methods of finding groups, channels and chats, setting up aggregated search criteria that increases speed and is targeted for individual organizational use. during class time.

In addition, students learn how to create various text to voice audio in different languages, video/audio integration, and other methods of creating content for online posting. This includes using the latest online AI tools for content creation, extraction, and manipulation. We teach enabling the understanding of the methods used against students as opposed to having to engage directly in deception campaigns.

The course blends cyber intelligence, counterintelligence, and cognitive warfare, from setup through passive execution. Students learn how to find adversaries in both the darknet and in open sources, while creating accounts through standardized OPSEC methods proven to be secure.

Pre-class setup includes building VirtualBox environments with software for anonymous collection (OSINT VMs), and USB operated stand-online platforms.

Students receive training materials, books, Treadstone 71 Reference Guides, CPE credits, and certificates for the work performed. We do not have students take tests based on memorization. Instead, students pass the course through full attendance and execution of all case studies. In addition, practical and pragmatic performance evaluation during the course confirms student knowledge.

The course runs from 7:45-5 PM Monday-Thursday and 7:45-3 PM on Friday. Breakfast and lunch are served daily.

Students need to have a solid understanding of browsers and the Internet. Students may also provide organizational gaps and possible targeting needs prior to class to help personalize the course. Treadstone 71 will sign mutual NDAs to facilitate this process.

Course eligibility is limited to US Citizens, NATO member countries, and other US-friendly countries. However, unlike others, we vet each student and do not allow adversaries access to our courses.