The second course that I chose for my multidisciplinary competency was Spies, Intelligence, and National Security, lead by Dr. Sandor Fabian at Arizona State University. As someone with an interest in cybersecurity, I was curious to learn more about the broader Intelligence Community (IC), and how their covert operations implement digital techniques.
In this course, we took a look through how the United States formed its Intelligence Community (IC), reading through multiple pivotal points in the past 100 years, starting with the end of WWII. We covered multiple readings, and engaged with complex discussions with our peers every week.
One takeaway from this course is the balance between transparency and concealment in covert operations. On one hand, these initiatives likely have to be kept secret by nature, and often times the details can be withheld from the highest positions in command. Often times all documentation of these events transpiring poses a massive security risk to the respective parties. However, the special privileges the individuals involved receive can enable them to make morally questionable decisions with little to no consequences. There has to be a system in place that allows for public trust while also keeping these institutions secure.
This train of thought also relates to cybersecurity, as the system architects who monitor and design the secure framework of an organization must be able to relay certain information to their higher-ups, while also keeping discretion.Â
The focus on secrecy and maintaining a low profile also led us to talks about modern digital collection, and its potential pitfalls. Every year, the everyday citizen is storing more of their personal information on online databases (e.g., financial information, daily routines, bioinformatics) with the trust that this information won't fall into the wrong hands. This is a big leap of faith, especially for something that is not guaranteed. It is up to us computer scientists to maintain a secure cyberspace, and to implement best practices to minimize risk.
Taking this course has resulted in a very valuable experience for me. It allowed me to broaden my horizons and greater understand how much thought is put into covert ops. In a industry and security context, it will allow me to be more precise in my decision-making, using the history of the IC as a baseline of how I should and shouldn't conduct myself.