Cyberspace Open Source Methods and Operations (COSMO)

Description:

COSMO is a three-week advanced course that provides tactical operators with state of the art tools, techniques, and instruction for operating within the digital domain. COSMO focuses on Publicly Available Information (PAI) as it pertains to Force Protection, OPSEC, and tactical situational awareness. COSMO teaches a methodology where techniques are combined with a variety of social media analytic tools to enhance current tactical operator mission sets. The COSMO student is trained to find, gather, and analyze online data and metadata via a hybrid process of iterative search, discovery, and analysis. Students return to their tactical units exceptionally trained to organically operate efficiently and safely in the digital domain.

Operational Impact:

COSMO provides selected students an advanced understanding of how to use, understand, and analyze publically accessible information (PAI) in an open source, unclassified confined space training environment. COSMO-trained operators will take away replicable lessons learned focused on and unique to conducting special operations in a digital environment. Trained operators will deploy back to their units and work within their current authorities, policies, and procedures with their commands to employ these skills to conduct CT operations globally.

Transition:

This capability has transitioned to a Department of Defense program of record.