Intelligence Tradecraft AS (Norway) and Pherson Associates (USA) are pleased to offer the Pherson’s analytic training program for cyber professionals, the Intelligence Analysis Professional (IAP) Certification for Cyber Analysts.
Successful IAP participants complete three classroom courses, comprising a total of eleven days of instruction plus additional certification activities. Intelligence Tradecraft AS founder and Analytic Tradecraft expert Freddy Murre, and Pherson Analytic Tradecraft experts Elizabeth Dos Santos and/or Laura Lenz, will teach the IAP courses.
The IAP certification is comprised of three levels across eleven days and cost between €5,500-6,500 per participant excluding travel, hotel and accommodation. Price depends on on location, exchange rates, taxes, instructor cost of venue, flights, hotel, per diem, etc. The course is divided into three parts:
- Level I: Critical Thinking Fundamentals for Cyber Analysts, three days
- Level II: SATs for Cyber Analysts, five days
- Level III: Presentational Tradecraft for Cyber Analysts, three days
Courses planned for 2025
Copenhagen, Denmark – Registration is open and confirmed with 18 of 24 people signed up
- Level I: 28-30 April 2025, (Monday to Wednesday)
- Level II: 12-16 May 2025, (Monday to Friday)
- Level III: 02-04 June 2025, (Monday to Wednesday)
To sign up for any of the course above or for future courses, please use the sign up button below and remember to specify which course you would want to participate in. Once the sign up has been confirmed, you will receive more information and details as well as the invoice.
Level I: CRITICAL THINKING FUNDAMENTALS FOR CYBER ANALYSTS
This three-day in-person IAP certificate course includes individual and group assignments, interaction with fellow learners, a capstone exercise, and a multiple-choice exam. The course has been tailored specifically for cyber analysts and operators and is certified by the International Association for Intelligence Education (IAFIE). Upon completion, you will receive a Certificate of Proficiency and a social media badge.
Instructors will use the Colonial Pipeline Ransomware case to illustrate key concepts and give participants practice in applying critical thinking techniques. Much of the course will involve small group activities and create new opportunities to establish relationships with community members.
In this course, you will learn:
- The different types of analysis and when to employ them.
- The components of critical thinking and how analysts use critical thinking in their daily tasks.
- How cognitive limitations and intuitive thinking processes impede good analysis.
- The purpose and value of Structured Analytic Techniques (SATs) and how to apply them in your work.
- The four-phase approach to conceptualising and planning analytic products and how to integrate it into your work routines.
Completion of this course satisfies Pherson’s Level I IAP Certification.
Level II: STRUCTURED ANALYTIC TECHNIQUES FOR CYBER ANALYSTS
During this five-day in-person IAP certificate course, participants learn how to use Exploration, Diagnostic, and Foresight Structured Analytic Techniques (SATs) to organise their data, solve the “puzzle,” and anticipate how the future will play out. Participants will practice using SATs in the “Black Out on the East Coast” and Colonial Pipeline case studies. Activities include individual and small group assignments, discussions with fellow learners, a capstone exercise, and three multiple-choice quizzes.
Exploration Techniques help analysts get started in gathering and making sense of their data, expanding their thinking, and discovering gaps, linkages, and relationships. This course introduces students to a set of exploration techniques they can use to:
- Create innovative approaches and transform existing ideas, knowledge, and insights into something novel but meaningful
- Identify potential new sources of information or reveal gaps in data or reporting
- Provide a fresh perspective on longstanding issues
- Counter the impulse to provide quick answers to complex questions
Exploration Techniques Explored and Applied:
- Brainstorming
- Cluster Brainstorming
- Starbursting
- Circleboarding™
- Mind Maps
- Concept Maps
- Venn Analysis
Diagnostic Techniques are used to formulate and refine ideas about what has happened or is currently transpiring by systematically exploring the nature of specific events or issues. This course introduces students to a set of diagnostic analytic techniques they can use to:
- Identify the dynamics at work in an issue or problem and how they have impacted it thus far
- Redefine issues to understand better how forces or elements might combine to generate different outcomes in the future
- Uncover information gaps and inform future research design
Diagnostic Techniques Explored and Applied:
- Chronologies and Timelines
- Key Assumptions Check
- Multiple Hypotheses Generation
- Analysis of Competing Hypotheses (ACH)
- Indicators
- Deception Detection
Foresight Techniques help analysts anticipate and track future scenarios to gain early warning, minimise bad outcomes, and seize emerging opportunities. This course introduces students to a set of Foresight analytic techniques they can use to:
- Anticipate future developments and implement future-oriented policies
- Better structure a problem and begin to anticipate the unanticipated
- Help analysts warn of coming dangers or expose new ways of responding to opportunities.
Foresight Techniques Explored and Applied:
- Key Drivers Generation™
- Key Uncertainties Finder™
- Multiple Scenarios Generator
- Indicators Generation and Validation
- Indicators Evaluation
- Impact Matrix
Completion of this course satisfies Pherson’s Level II IAP Certification.
Level III: PRESENTATIONAL TRADECRAFT FOR CYBER ANALYSTS
Even superior analysis will be worthless if you fail to meaningfully and compellingly present your conclusions. Presentational Tradecraft skills can mean the difference between an impactful analytic product and one that fails to garner needed attention.
This three-day in-person certificate course includes instructor-led sessions plus individual and group exercises, interaction with fellow learners, a capstone exercise, and three quizzes.
Day 1
- Understanding the Audience and Defining the Issue
(AIMS, Audience Worksheet, Essential Questions, Analytic Spectrum)
Day 2
- Crafting Your Message
(Role of Evidence, Sourcing, Confidence Levels, Logical Arguments, Inverted Triangle, Topic Sentences, Organising Your Work, Titles and Leads)
Day 3
- Building and Delivering Your Storyline
(Delivering Your Message, CREATE, Briefings, Analyst’s Roadmap, LATCH, Visualization and Design Principles)
Completion of this course satisfies Pherson’s Level III IAP Certification.