Areas of Expertise

• Cybersecurity
• Emerging Security Challenges
• Hybrid Threats and Warfare
• Transnational Crime
• Geopolitical Competition

Academic Degrees

• Ph.D., Criminology and Cybersecurity, University of Portsmouth
• Master of Arts, History of Science, Harvard University

Sean Costigan, Ph.D., joined the George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies in July 2016 and is currently a professor of transnational security studies, focusing on cybersecurity and emerging security challenges. He also leads the development of cybersecurity and hybrid threats curriculum for the Partnership for Peace Consortium (PfPC) and is the editor-in-chief of “Connections,” the PfPC’s quarterly journal.

Prior to joining the Marshall Center, Costigan held leadership, policy, and academic roles at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, The New School, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich (Eidgenoessische Technische Hochschule), Columbia University, the Council on Foreign Relations, and Harvard University. Throughout his career, he has worked with government agencies to solve complex problems and has been widely published on emerging security challenges, cybersecurity, and national security issues.

Costigan also developed NATO’s Generic Reference Curriculums on hybrid threats, hybrid warfare, and cybersecurity. His books include “Cyberspaces and Global Affairs,” “Terrornomics,” and “Arming the Future.” Costigan is also regularly published in “The Diplomatic Courier” and “Dark Reading.”

In 2023, Costigan received the Serge Lazareff Prize for his contributions to the Office of Legal Affairs of NATO SHAPE. He was awarded the Cyber Visionary Leadership Award from the Cyber Security Summit in 2020.