Course · NCSSP
National Cyber Security Scholar Program
Executive cyber leadership for the AI era.
A course by the Cybersecurity & AI Initiative, an ISAC Foundation centre.
- Length
- 12 weeks · 24 live sessions (about 48 contact hours) · 200 hours with the capstone
- When
- Starts in the second week of April 2027 with a two-day in-person opening; then a Thursday Leadership Masterclass and a Saturday Live Experience each week, two hours each
- Format
- Hybrid: a two-day in-person opening, live online sessions, and contact sessions in the UAE, Singapore and India; every online session is recorded
- Certification
- Admission to the National Security Database as an NSD Scholar; 75% attendance and the capstone project
- Before you start
- CISSP, or 7+ years of experience with at least 3 in cybersecurity
About the course
The techno-managerial pathway to the National Security Database's senior Scholar grade. Over twelve intensive weeks, opening with two days together in person and continuing live online with contact sessions in the UAE, Singapore and India, senior professionals work through the decisions that define a leader (boardroom simulations, live cyber war games and hands-on ranges), mapped to where the threat is heading. Across seven cohorts, Scholars have gone on to protect critical infrastructure, financial systems and national institutions.
What you become
An NSD Scholar: admitted to the National Security Database at its senior Scholar grade, a verifiable credential that is ethics-bound, renewed through continuing education and revocable for breach, with lifelong membership of the Scholar community.
Who it is for
- Armed forces: Serving and transitioning personnel
- Government leaders: Senior and middle-level leaders in homeland and cybersecurity
- Corporate security leaders: CISOs, CIOs and security managers in large companies
- Senior faculty: Professors driving emerging technologies and skilling
- Civil servants: IAS, IPS, state government and PSU officers working on cyber security
- Think-tanks: Members working on security and policy
- MSSP executives: Seasoned leaders at managed security service providers
Curriculum
Machine-Speed Warfare
Leading Cyber in the Age of AI
Live Experience: Zero Hour, the machine-speed ransomware crisis.
The Accountable Boardroom
Cyber, AI Governance and Board Accountability
Live Experience: In the Hot Seat, briefing the board mid-breach.
Securing the Intelligence Age
Governing AI and the Post-Quantum Countdown
Live Experience: Breaking the Machine, the AI attack lab.
Ahead of the Adversary
Predictive Threat Intelligence and Pre-emptive Defence
Live Experience: Into the Dark, a threat-intelligence and attribution hunt.
The Self-Defending Enterprise
The Autonomous SOC: AI-Driven Defence at Scale
Live Experience: Red versus Machine, continuous attack simulation.
Cyber-Physical Frontlines
Defending Critical Infrastructure and OT
Live Experience: Lights Out, the industrial cyber range.
Command Under Fire
Crisis Leadership: Communicating When It Counts
Live Experience: The War Room, live incident command.
Identity Without Humans
Zero Trust and the Machine-Identity Frontier
Live Experience: The Phantom Login, a cloud and identity breach.
The Trust Chain
Securing the Software and Supplier Ecosystem
Live Experience: The Domino Effect, a supply-chain crisis.
Cyber as Statecraft
Digital Sovereignty, Geopolitics and National Power
Live Experience: Nation Under Attack, the global cyber war game.
The Cyber Force of the Future
Building Teams and Forward-Deployed Engineering
Live Experience: 30 Days to Deploy, the forward-deployed sprint.
Cyber Leadership 2030
Capstone Synthesis and NSD Conferral
Live Experience: The Final Exercise, a global resilience war game, and conferral as NSD Scholars.
What is included
- Cyber Crisis War Games: play CEO, CFO, CISO, SOC lead, counsel, investigator or board member in live crisis simulations
- Virtual Cyber Range Labs in the browser, and Breach and Attack Simulation against the MITRE ATT&CK framework
- A two-day in-person opening at the start of the course, and contact sessions in the UAE, Singapore and India
- Optional bridge course: NCBIS, online
- Optional add-on, paid separately: in-person experiences at the end of the year (an off-grid Leadership and Resilience Camp, critical-infrastructure industry visits and the Phygital Cyber Range). Prices are shared on request.
- Alumni for life: the Scholar community, complimentary instructor-led technical trainings with ISAC certifications, annual industry visits and peer support in a crisis
Common questions
Is it online or in person?
Both. The course opens with two days together in person in the second week of April 2027, continues with live online sessions (recorded so you can catch up), and has contact sessions in the UAE, Singapore and India.
How much time does it take?
Two live sessions a week for twelve weeks, about 48 contact hours. Plan for seven to eight hours a week with reading, case work and the capstone: about 200 hours in all.
Are there in-person experiences?
Yes, as an optional add-on at the end of the year: an off-grid Leadership and Resilience Camp, critical-infrastructure industry visits and time on the Phygital Cyber Range. They are not part of the programme fee and are paid for separately; ask us for the details and prices.
How is it assessed?
Through practical work rather than an examination: at least 75% attendance and the capstone project, which you present in the final week.
What does the credential mean?
You are admitted to the National Security Database as an NSD Scholar. It is a verifiable credential, bound by a code of ethics, renewed through continuing education and revocable for breach.
Enrol
Send an enquiry to the Cybersecurity & AI Initiative from this page.