DOD Cyber Training Academy Aims to Equip Students with Essential Cybersecurity Tools > U.S. Department of Defense > Department of Defense news
To address the ever-evolving cybersecurity threats facing the United States, the Department of Defense established what is now known as the DOD Cyber Crime Center’s Cyber Training Academy in 1998. near Linthicum Heights, Maryland.
Today, DC3 operates as a Federal Designated Cyber Center and a DOD Center of Excellence for Digital and Multimedia Forensics. DC3 operates under the Air Force Executive Agency Secretariat.
“The academy provides valuable training that can be accessed virtually anywhere, anytime,” said Casey Szyper, director of DC3 CTA. “A rigorous program provides department personnel with the relevant knowledge and advanced skills they need to achieve mission objectives.”
CTA’s mission is to provide cyber training to ensure defense information systems are protected against unauthorized use, counterintelligence, and criminal and fraudulent activity, Szyper said.
Students can access training in four ways: in residence; instructor-led virtual; at your own pace online; or mobile training teams in locations across the United States and abroad.
The academy offers training in more than a dozen courses, ranging from computer basics to network intrusions and cyber analytics, designed to meet the ever-changing needs of students, Szyper said.
Additionally, the academy offers training in modern cybersecurity tools such as the Open Vulnerability Assessment Scanner and Network Mapper.
In an effort to provide cyber training across the department, the academy is offering a new “CyberCast” that can train common access card/personal identity verification cyber operators through self-paced and specific virtual hardware to skills.
The academy offers three DOD certifications, widely recognized as validations of digital forensics skills, to students who successfully complete the following course combinations: Digital Media Collector, Digital Forensics Examiner, and Cybercrime Investigator with Counterintelligence Badge /law application.
Another unique offering from CTA is its International Cybercrime Course.
“ICFC provides students with the strong practical knowledge needed to conduct incident response and digital media digital forensics to include networks.” said Angela Jenkins, ICFC CTA Training Coordinator. “The course is residential for five weeks with 200 hours of instruction and over 94 hours of hands-on training.”
Here is the CFCB schedule:
Week 1: Introduction to Networks and Computer Hardware
Week 2: Cyber Incident Response Course
Week 3: Windows Forensics Examination-In-Case
Weeks 4 and 5: Forensic analysis and intrusions in a Windows environment
The last ICFC, which was held from August 1 to September 2, included students from Hungary, Kuwait, Korea and Jordan. This was the largest student population of an iteration since the course’s inception in 2019. To date, and thanks to the international limitations of the COVID-19 pandemic, the academy has trained 22 international partners in six iterations separate from CFCB.
Upon completion of ICFC, students will master the following:
Identify the hardware components of a computer system
Use operating system tools to manage disks, partitions, and file systems
Perform domain management and administrative tasks using Windows Server Active Directory and Group Policy tools
Configure a system to be able to communicate on a network
Perform basic computer troubleshooting
Perform basic computer tasks using Windows
Prepare for cyber incident response and play the role of a first responder
Prepare accurate documentation of a cyber investigation to include all actions taken
Examine where digital data resides in a variety of digital devices
Collect volatile and non-volatile data
Demonstrate how to effectively manage digital media after responding to an incident
Generate hash values for collected data and forensic images
Perform a forensic examination of a Windows operating system image
Demonstrate basic functions, configurations, outputs, tools and settings of EnCase
Examine a forensic image from a Windows computer using basic forensic processes and automated tools in EnCase
Use Password Recovery Toolkit to Defeat Protected Files
Generate a detailed and accurate report of a network intrusion
Analyze network-based evidence
Analyze host-based evidence
Explain how to conduct a legal investigation on the network
“DC3 has the unique privilege of interacting with our global e-partners in an educational forum,” said Jude Sunderburch, Executive Director of DC3. “Students graduating from our ICFC have helped foster positive relationships between DC3 and representatives of their host U.S. embassies, national security counterparts, and U.S. and foreign military training delegates.”
Currently, the academy is only authorized to train Ministry of Defense personnel in partner countries. Collaboration and discussions between the Office of International Military Students and the Defense Security Cooperation Agency continue with the goal of increasing training support and funding for non-MOD personnel through the Regional Defense Section 345 scholarship program.
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