By Christine June
Public Affairs Office
George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies

GARMISCH-PARTENKIRCHEN, Germany (May 5, 2015) – The Program on Cyber Security Studies' Alumni Community of Interest Workshop – "Emergent Challenges: Practitioner Action" – begins today and ends Thursday, May 7, at the George C. Marshall European Center for Security Studies here.

The Marshall Center invited 60, 40 of whom are alumni, cyber security experts and cyber practitioners to this special forum to address international, multi-stakeholder, and public-private-partnership security challenges in the cyber domain.

Participants hail from 37 countries: Armenia; Azerbaijan; Bosnia and Herzegovina; Botswana; Brazil; Bulgaria; Chile; Colombia; Czech Republic; Estonia; Georgia; Ghana; Guyana; Indonesia; Kosovo; Latvia; Lebanon; Lesotho; Macedonia; Malaysia; Moldova; Netherlands; Nigeria; Philippines; Portugal; Romania; Senegal; Serbia; Swaziland; Thailand; Trinidad and Tobago; Tunisia; Uganda; Ukraine; United States; and, Uzbekistan.

This international collective of participants will examine the current cyber security challenges and discuss pragmatic ways to effectively counter cyber threats.

The workshop will focus on opportunities to build partnership capacity and regional cooperation by discussing best practices for improving cyber security. The critical theme behind this workshop examines the importance of combating the nefarious use of the cyber domain by actors engaged in terrorism and transnational challenges.

It will emphasize strategy and planning within the framework of whole-of-government, public-private partnership, and international cooperation. The workshop helps participants appreciate the nature and magnitude of today's threats and develops a common understanding of the lexicon, best practices and current cyber security initiatives within the public and private cyber sectors.

It incorporates lectures by world-renowned experts in cyber security and each lecture is followed by seminar discussions that promote experience sharing and networking among participants.

The program is tailored for officials responsible for developing or influencing cyber strategies, legislation, and policies.

The workshop is an element of the Marshall Center's new Program on Cyber Security Studies, which conducted its first resident course in December 2014.