A Pattern for Strategic Development of Human Resources in the Field of Cyber Security of the Armed Forces of Islamic Republic of Iran

The realization of cyber security along with the technical and equipment dimensions is in need of expansion and development of competent and efficient human resources. Thus, the main purpose of this research is to design a model for strategic human resource development in the field of cyber security of the Armed Forces of Islamic Republic of Iran. Regarding its purpose and data collection and analysis, this study is applied-developmental and quantitative. In order to attain its goal in the first stage, by extracting 140 indicators, 50 components and 15 dimensions of exploratory studies, a conceptual model was designed. In the second stage, a questionnaire was prepared based on the components of the model. The validity (face and content) and reliability of this instrument were examined by surveying opinions of 8 experts. In the third stage, based on the views of 43 scientific and executive experts in the field of cyber security of the country, using SPSS and PLS software the desirability and relationships of the model components were evaluated. The results of this phase showed that at the level of p ≤ 0.05 out of 20 regulatory hypotheses, except for three hypotheses, i.e. the relationship between staff development apparatuses and jihadi culture; the mediating role of maturity, stakeholders' participation and cooperation in the relationship between their development instruments and enhancement of cyber security governance; and the mediating role of the mentioned mediating variable in the relationship between stakeholders' development apparatuses and the promotion of global indicators of cyber security readiness, other assumptions have been significant. In conclusion, based on the research results, some suggestions have been presented on how to achieve strategic development of human resources in the field of cyber security of the Armed Forces.