The Marshall Center launched its 2025 Program on Cyber Security Studies (PCSS) this week, welcoming 75 participants from 53 countries for an intensive three-week dive into the global cyber threat landscape.

PCSS brings together rising and senior professionals from defense, government, law enforcement, and the private sector to explore today’s toughest cyber challenges and build relationships that last long after the course ends. 

Marshall Center Deputy Director Tim McAteer explained that network-building is not just a benefit of the program, it’s a core design feature.

“We don’t refer to you as students - we call you participants,” McAteer said. “You bring experience to the table, and this course is about sharing that knowledge with each other. It takes a network to defeat a network.”

That network-building is reinforced through more than just lectures. Coffee breaks, shared meals, and group outings are deliberately built into the course to encourage informal conversations and cross-national collaboration.

Over the first few days, participants heard from cybersecurity leaders with extensive operational and policy expertise.

Richard Magnan, professor of Law and Cyber Security at the Marshall Center, drew on his unique background as both a lawyer and computer scientist to walk participants through what happens during a cyberattack, from detection and decision-making under stress to recovery and legal considerations.

"Your attackers don’t have to be sophisticated, and make no mistake, you will have a [cyber] breach,” Magnan said. “Detection is the key. At the beginning, you know something is not right—but you don’t know what it is. That uncertainty is the fog of war in cybersecurity."

He then outlined the process of containment, business decision-making under stress, and the difficulty of recovery, especially the impossibility of ever being completely sure that all threats have been eradicated.

A retired U.S. Air Force colonel who has worked in both multinational corporations and military operations, Magnan reminded participants that cyber threats aren’t just technical, they’re strategic.

“Cybersecurity is just another form of business risk,” he said. “But to assess it, you have to understand the technology. You can’t get away from that.”

Later, guest speaker Helio Sant’Ana offered an inside look at cyber threat intelligence (CTI), focusing on what it is, how to use it, and why it matters.

“Threat intelligence is not just about collecting data, it’s about turning that data into action, context, and ultimately, better decisions,” Sant’Ana said. “In cybersecurity, trust is still built person-to-person. We don’t yet have a tool that can replace that.”

A 2019 PCSS graduate, Sant’Ana has nearly two decades of experience leading cybersecurity efforts in Brazil, including as Chief Information Officer to the Presidency and as part of the teams behind Brazil’s national cybersecurity strategy and critical infrastructure protection initiatives. 

In his lecture, Sant’Ana described CTI as a living process, not a one-time fix, based on sharing, collaboration, and common frameworks. He also acknowledged the challenges of balancing transparency with privacy, especially in sensitive sectors or when national interests are at stake.

The remainder of the PCSS course will cover emerging technologies, policy frameworks, cyber diplomacy, resilience planning, and crisis simulation, to name a few topics. For many participants, the venue provides a unique opportunity to learn directly from peers across the globe: their cyber colleagues dealing with the same threats in a variety of contexts.

While the course schedule can be demanding, McAteer reminded participants to make time for the environment as well.

“This place matters - the setting, the scenery, the environment,” he said. “Those emotional connections enhance learning and build professional relationships that last long after the course ends.”

As a flagship offering in the Marshall Center’s cyber security portfolio, PCSS equips rising and senior leaders with a shared understanding of cyber threats and responses across borders, agencies, and disciplines. PCSS alumni now lead national cyber offices, support whole-of-government coordination, and advise ministers across multiple regions. That growing network, built on trust, shared norms, and operational familiarity, is a force multiplier for U.S. and allied efforts to collectively address regional, transnational, and global challenges in an increasingly contested information environment. 

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The Program on Cyber Security Studies is a three-week, policy-focused course that equips mid- to senior-level leaders with the tools to navigate today’s cyber challenges. Participants gain a strategic understanding of cyber risk, governance, and emerging technologies, while exploring how national and international frameworks shape cyber policy and cooperation. Designed to bridge the gap between technical experts and decision-makers, the course builds a global network of professionals working to strengthen cyber resilience across sectors and borders.