4.0

credits

Average Course Rating

This class is intended to give students experience in conducting and writing analysis of online information operations and disinformation campaigns, conveying practical skills for those seeking professional threat intelligence analysis or other similar roles. Throughout the semester, students will develop and conduct their own open source investigation of their choosing, culminating at the end of the semester in the completion of a polished threat intelligence report. While open source intelligence (OSINT) investigative techniques will be employed by students throughout the course, it is not intended to be an OSINT techniques course per se. Rather, focus will be placed on producing coherent, concise, accurate and insightful analysis. As part of this, heavy emphasis will be placed on analytic writing, and students will also be exposed to—and conduct—some basic quantitative data analytics. No prior exposure to information operations or disinformation campaigns is expected, as students will learn relevant concepts and lingo as the course progresses.