In Depth 8 Week Program to Sharpen Your Defensive Skills

• • 🗓️ Starts: Sunday, January 4, 2026
  • 🗓️ Ends: Sunday, March 1, 2026

Format: Asynchronously online with 3 live sessions with John Kiriakou

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🕵️ Surveillance: Online & In Your Backyard

Gain the skills to defend yourself in the digital realm and detect surveillance in the physical world. This 8 week Ivy Cyber Academy program blends the expertise of two leading voices:

• John Kiriakou — Former CIA officer, world renowned intelligence expert, and whistleblower who exposed the CIA’s torture program
• Sean O’Brien — Founder of Yale Privacy Lab & Associate Research Scholar at Yale Law School, Director of Cybersecurity at Bay Path University, and founder of ExpressVPN’s Digital Security Lab

Together, John and Sean deliver a split of real world surveillance detection and digital self defense, offering a unique and transformative approach to personal and professional security.

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🎁 Bonus Learning Module

History of Terrorism with John Kiriakou

• Origins and evolution of modern groups, including early figures such as Carlos the Jackal
• Al Qaeda’s formative period with a first meeting in 1986 and how that history informs the present
• Patterns of targeting and the central place of victims in the real story
• Lessons that translate into practical awareness for everyday life

🎓 What You’ll Learn

Surveillance Detection with John Kiriakou

• How intelligence agencies monitor targets in the field
• Techniques for recognizing hostile surveillance in your neighborhood
• Real case studies from CIA service and whistleblowing work
• Situational awareness and practical counter surveillance skills

Digital Self Defense with Sean O’Brien

• How apps and devices track you and how to stop it
• Tools for encrypted communication and private browsing
• Network monitoring to expose hidden data flows
• Dissecting real investigations from Yale Privacy Lab and ExpressVPN Digital Security Lab

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💡 Course Format

• Weekly modules with video, audio, and reading material
• Exclusive exercises to apply concepts directly to your environment
• Discussion with your peers, with conversations guided by John and Sean
• 3 live sessions with John Kiriakou for deeper dialogue and Q&A
• Collaboration on a capstone project via secure enterprise tools

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🎁 Included Benefits

• 12 month subscription to PrivacySafe Zone. The course utilizes PrivacySafe apps for secure peer collaboration.
• Free account on PrivacySafe Social
• 15% off all secure hardware and software products in the Ivy Cyber Shop
• 20% off all future Ivy Cyber Academy events and courses

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👤 Who Should Enroll

• Executives and professionals responsible for data privacy and security
• Journalists researchers and activists navigating surveillance risks
• Anyone seeking to strengthen both digital defenses and real world awareness

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⚠️ Please Note

• This course is purely educational in nature. We do not provide legal advising, financial advising, or operational advising for activism and are not liable for your actions. See our Terms & Conditions for more information.
• Graphics and topics may include sensitive material related to surveillance, war, and whistleblowing
• Enrollment is nonrefundable once the course starts

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🛡️ Learn From Experience. Defend with Knowledge.

Enroll in this 8 week intensive program and gain rare access to instructors who have been on both sides of surveillance: inside the top ranks of US intelligence and at the forefront of digital privacy advocacy.