Information Warfare
Undergraduate Certificate
Quick Facts
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The Undergraduate Certificate in Information Warfare focuses on both offensive and defensive information operations. This certificate gives you the skills necessary to protect against advanced information operation campaigns.
Gain hands-on experience detecting and defending against operations and disinformation campaigns carried out by foreign adversaries. You will use interactive exercises to master leveraging open-source data to support the development of psychological and information operation campaigns. Course content will guide you in developing and deploying denial of service and counter-messaging strategies to mitigate adversarial Information Operation campaigns. After completing this certificate, you will be able to expertly explain how influence operations focus on manipulating the psychology of targets through strategic communication. You will also be able to synchronize information operations with kinetic and electronic warfare processes to support hybrid and unrestricted warfare.
The Undergraduate Certificate in Information Warfare serves students from across the University, specifically those without the technical intelligence or the cyber background necessary to be successful in the field of information warfare. This certificate is an excellent complement to University of Arizona cyber, intelligence, media studies, journalism and national security degree programs.
This certificate can be completed one course at a time or can be taken in as few as two semesters.
*Residents of some U.S. Territories may not be eligible. Please see our Eligibility & State Authorization page for more information.
The curriculum for this program includes:
This course provides a broad overview of the American intelligence systems. Collection, analysis, counterintelligence and covert operations will be covered. The course will demonstrate how these systems work together to provide a "decision advantage" for policymakers.
This course is an introduction to the capabilities and uses of psychological operations.
Gain an overview of the fundamentals of Open Source Intelligence.
This course is an introduction to the concepts of deception, counter-deception, counterintelligence and psychological operations.
Gain an in-depth overview of the tactics, techniques, procedures and tools used to conduct and defend against Information Operation campaigns.
This course is an advanced analysis of the tactics, techniques, and tools used to conduct and defend against Social Engineering attacks.
Outcomes
Skills
Earning your Undergraduate Certificate in Information Warfare will build core skills, including:
- Digital influence & manipulation operations
- Social engineering
- Psychological operations
- Strategic communication
- Denial of service & counter-messaging strategies
- Principles of influence and manipulation
- Malware infection
- Social engineering attacks
Potential Career Paths
Graduates of the Undergraduate Certificate in Information Warfare program will be prepared to pursue the following careers:
