Cybersecurity Education in the Age of AI, Automation & Ambiguity
This volume is based on the 29th Colloquium held on-site at Seattle University in Washington State in November 2025. The event was co-hosted with The City University of Seattle, led by Morgan Zantua. The editors extend their sincere gratitude to both institutions, our authors, and the many individuals whose efforts made the event possible. We also thank our sponsors— Seattle University, The City University of Seattle, Codio, SET, and Silver Cloud Hotels—for their generous support of the event.
The 29th Colloquium was held jointly with the Conference on Cybersecurity, Education, Research, and Practice (CCERP). Papers from that conference are published separately and are available at: https://digitalcommons.kennesaw.edu/ccerp/2025/. We are grateful for their partnership and for the significant contributions their research makes to the broader cybersecurity education community.
As this journal is published in 2026, we observe the continued normalization of artificial intelligence (AI) systems as integral components of business operations, defense practices, and scientific systems, accompanied by a proportionate expansion in datacenter infrastructure and semiconductor demand. At the same time, the geopolitical landscape continues to reshape the cybersecurity threat environment, with defensive strategies across governments, industry, and critical infrastructure evolving rapidly.
The influence of social media, large language models, and increasingly sophisticated deepfake technologies continues to expand, affecting societal discourse, human psychology, and cybersecurity practices as educational institutions and organizations adapt their policies and training approaches. Although widespread quantum readiness remains distant for many organizations, threat analysis and mitigation strategies are already being developed for high-security environments. Meanwhile, immersive technologies such as virtual and augmented reality remain largely emerging for the general public, though niche applications are gaining traction and gamification continues to influence educational approaches. Education itself is undergoing significant transformation as institutions adapt to both the benefits and challenges associated with AI-enabled technologies.
This year, 30 papers were accepted from authors across the United States and around the world. The increased number of submissions reflects growing interest in The Colloquium and has further strengthened the quality of this year’s journal. We are grateful to all authors who submitted their work and encourage those whose papers were not accepted to consider submitting again in future years.
The papers presented in this volume provide valuable insights for cybersecurity educators seeking to remain current with emerging technologies and evolving challenges. Artificial intelligence is now a common component of educational practice and research methodology. In addition, disciplines such as psychology and philosophy are emerging as important elements within the broader cybersecurity landscape—particularly in areas such as social media safety for children, AI-driven changes in human behavior, the proliferation of AI-generated content competing with authentic information, and the psychological dynamics underlying cyber attack and defense.
The Editorial Board would like to thank all those who participated in The Colloquium, particularly the Program Committee members who contributed to the peer-review process. Their efforts allow us to maintain the high standards of the journal and continuously improve the editorial process. We also extend our appreciation to The Colloquium’s President, Denise Kinsey, and to the Board of Directors and Officers of CISSE for their leadership and guidance, under the chairmanship of co-founder William “Vic” Maconachy.
CISSE is granted a non-exclusive right to publish and disseminate the work. All articles are © their authors and licensed under CC BY 4.0. Usage and publication requests should be made directly to the authors.
The Editorial Board:
Erik Moore, Editor-in-Chief
Dan Likarish, Senior Editor
Denise Kinsey, Senior Editor
Alexander Kent, Associate Editor
Andrew Hurd, Associate Editor
Andrew Belón, Production Editor
