Cyberpsychology is a scientific, interdisciplinary domain that studies the interaction between people and technology, and the influence technology has on human behavior, society, and national security. For professionals in intelligence, defense, policy, and corporate leadership, it explains how digital systems shape perception, belief formation, trust, decision-making, and behavior at scale. As power increasingly flows through information, attention, and narrative rather than physical force alone, cyberpsychology provides the foundation for understanding influence, risk, resilience, and strategic advantage in the modern operating environment.
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During this executive program, students will
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Examine how technological systems influence cognition, trust, identity, and collective behavior across cultures and contexts.
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Trace the evolution of communication from early media revolutions to today’s algorithmic, AI-driven, and immersive ecosystems.
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Analyze how media architectures, platform incentives, and emerging technologies shape belief formation, polarization, conformity, and resistance.
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Learn, through real-world case studies and applied scenarios, how psychological vulnerabilities are identified, exploited, and defended in digital environments.
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Assess the behavioral consequences of cyber operations, influence campaigns, and sustained exposure to synthetic and accelerated information.
What was once taught only to elite military and intelligence units across the world is offered here—unclassified, rigorous, and for the first time, accessible to civilian and international professionals who seek mastery in the modern influence battlespace.
Professionals in:
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Intelligence, Defense & Policy
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Media & Marketing
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Technology
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Corporate Strategy & Business Intelligence
Graduates from this program, will understand why people behave the way they do in digital environments—and how that behavior can be shaped, exploited, protected, or redirected.
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1. The Human Drive to Communicate & Orient
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Professionals in intelligence, defense, policy, and corporate leadership will leave this program with a sharper ability to recognize, anticipate, and counter how information systems shape human belief and behavior at scale—not just today, but across history. By tracing the evolution from early messaging networks to newspapers, telegraphy, radio, television, and modern media ecosystems, they’ll learn the recurring mechanics of influence: speed, scale, centralization, emotional manipulation, narrative control, and perception engineering.
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Applications: A durable analytic lens for real-world decisions: how to detect emerging persuasion campaigns early, separate signal from engineered noise, protect institutional trust, and communicate strategically in contested information environments where psychology—not just technology—drives outcomes.
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2. Media Evolution & Behavioral Influence
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Professionals will walk away with a field-ready understanding of how the modern internet ecosystem systematically shapes perception, identity, and behavior—and how adversaries exploit those mechanics to produce real-world outcomes. This portion of the program teaches them to read the networked environment like terrain: how platforms and algorithms amplify emotion, fragment attention, harden group identity, and accelerate polarization and mobilization; how those dynamics translate into recruitment, radicalization, crisis escalation, market shocks, and institutional distrust; and how authoritarian states operationalize disinformation and control ecosystems at scale.
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Applications: Detect influence early, design cognitive defense and resilience measures, improve messaging strategy, understand audience psychology, and build communication and policy responses that reduce manipulation and societal instability.
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3. The Digital Mind & Emerging Technology
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Professionals will better understand how AI, immersive technologies, and data-driven systems fundamentally alter human perception, trust, and control at scale—and how those changes are already being weaponized. They will learn how deepfakes, synthetic media, immersive environments, and surveillance architectures collapse the boundary between reality and fabrication; how states like China and Russia deploy AI differently to enforce discipline or induce chaos; and how smart cities, digital twins, and data brokerage create new strategic dependencies and vulnerabilities.​
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Applications: The practical takeaway is the ability to anticipate second- and third-order effects of AI and immersive systems, assess risks to legitimacy, privacy, and security, and design governance, defensive, and operational strategies that account for psychological as well as technical consequences.
Dr. Elena Taube Bailey
Dr. Bailey brings a wealth of expertise spanning intelligence, policy, defense, and academia, as well as the nonprofit and private sectors. In academia, Dr. Bailey serves as the President and Program Director of Cyberpsychology at The Academy. Additionally, Dr. Bailey is a professor at the National Defense University’s College of Information and Cyberspace (CIC), where she teaches courses on influence warfare, cyberspace, national security, and strategic communication. She also holds the position of Adjunct Professor at Georgetown University, within the Master of Professional Studies in Applied Intelligence program. Dr. Bailey is the co-founder and CEO of Glocal, the world’s pioneering News Superintelligence platform, combining human collective intelligence and AI to elevate the information environment. Fluent in English, Russian, Ukrainian, and conversational Hebrew, Dr. Bailey resides in the Washington Metropolitan Area with her husband. Counterintelligence & Intelligence​: Dr. Bailey served as a senior counterintelligence (CI) specialist at the Department of Defense, Defense Threat Reduction Agency (DTRA), where she focused on CI and worldwide cyber threat analysis. DTRA enables the DoD and the U.S. Government to prepare for and combat WMDs and improvised threats and to ensure nuclear deterrence. The agency’s legacy extends back to the Manhattan Engineering Project that was created to develop the world’s first atomic bomb during World War II. Prior to DTRA, Dr. Bailey served as a senior CI analyst at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), the National Counterintelligence and Security Center (NCSC), where she supported joint CI operations and led a program that drove intelligence integration and collaboration across the intelligence community (IC). During this time, Dr. Bailey also served as a Regional Subject Matter Expert (SME) to the DoD, Department of the Army, focusing on geographic, economic, industry, political, security, and geopolitical issues in Ukraine.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​ Before her tenure at the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI), Dr. Bailey served as an Intelligence Analyst at the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA), where she collaborated closely with operations on counterterrorism initiatives. Additionally, Dr. Bailey successfully completed a rotation with the U.S. Department of State’s Center for Strategic Counterterrorism Communications where she specialized in developing and executing overt counterterrorism messaging operations.​ Foreign Governments​: Between 2006 and 2007, Dr. Bailey provided political and media analysis, as well as, conducted public relations and strategic communication at the Consulate General of Israel in Los Angeles, and the Consulate General of Ukraine in San Francisco.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​ Local Government & Politics: ​​In 2009, Dr. Bailey served as a Legislative Deputy Assistant to Councilman Greig Smith, who was succeeded by Councilman Mitchell Englander, at the Los Angeles City Hall, Council District 12, representing the San Fernando Valley. More specifically, Dr. Bailey developed and maintained relationships between the district office and the diverse constituents in District 12. She also managed public relations with local, state and federal bodies, organizations, and the LA Joint Terrorism Taskforce (JTTF)—a partnership between the FBI and other law enforcement agencies charged with countering terrorism. Between 2004 and 2005, Dr. Bailey worked as a Presidential Campaign Coordinator in Fremont, CA. Then in 2007, she went on to serve as the Field Manager of California Region 3, for a presidential candidate. Education​: Dr. Bailey completed a Ph.D. in Strategic Communication from George Mason University. She received a Masters Degree in Psychology from Harvard University and an M.B.A. from Georgetown University, McDonough School of Business with a focus in marketing, strategy and management. She had also received a Masters Degree in Politics with a focus in International Relations and American Government from New York University (NYU). Additionally, Dr. Bailey holds a Certificate in Intelligence Analysis from the Sherman Kent school for Intelligence Analysis, which is a training school for CIA intelligence analysts, a Graduate Certificate in Advanced Marketing Management from Georgetown University, and a Graduate Certificate in Messianic Jewish Studies from the Messianic Jewish Theological Institute. Dr. Bailey had pursued her undergraduate studies at Harvard University, the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, and UCLA where she graduated with honors and earned a B.A. in Political Science with a focus in International Relations and a minor in Middle Eastern Studies.
