Cyber in the Americas: A GOLE Initiative on Safeguarding Organizations and Citizens Through Cyber Security Research and Cyber Security Research Collaboration Across the Americas

Cyber Security Research Collaboration across the Americas

From late August through December 2025, the St. John’s University M.S. in Cyber and Information Security program partnered with Pontifical Catholic University (PUC) in Brazil and Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Honduras (UNAH) through a Global Online Learning Exchange Research Experience (GOLE-RE) to advance cybersecurity research across the Americas. This collaboration represents the culmination of a two‑year, two‑fold international initiative designed to build sustained academic exchange and cross‑regional cybersecurity research capacity.

The first component of this initiative was a Fulbright Grant–supported collaboration between St. John’s University and Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Honduras led by Dr. Elías Leonardo García Urquía, UNAH Engineering Faculty, and Suzanna Schmeelk, Ed.D., D.P.S., Associate Professor, Division of Computer Science, Mathematics, and Science. This phase was facilitated by the US Embassy in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, through a US Department of State-funded Fulbright Specialist Program to provide US expertise for the development of a master’s in cybersecurity at UNAH. The Fulbright Specialist Program catalyzed the inclusion of Central America into the established GOLE‑RE initiative, expanding its mission to strengthen international research collaborations that enhance security across the United States and the broader Americas.

The second component—chronologically the first to be established—was developed by Dr. Schmeelk in collaboration with the St. John’s University Study Abroad Virtual Exchange Program coordinated by Zoe Petropoulou, Ph.D., Associate Professor of French, Department of Languages and Literatures, and Ian M. August, Adjunct Professor, Division of Mass Communication. This virtual study‑abroad initiative required more than a year of preparation to enable a sustained cyber security collaboration with PUC in São Paulo, Brazil, led by Dr. Carlos Moreira, Dr. Guilherme Oliveira, Dr. Schmeelk, and the PUC engineering faculty. Together, these two complementary efforts formed a unified and durable trilateral GOLE-RE partnership, resulting in a strengthened triangulation of cybersecurity research collaboration across South, Central, and North America.

Because the St. John’s program operates in dual modality, combined with the varying time zones of PUC and UNAH, student teams collaborated across four time zones and three languages—Spanish, Portuguese, and English. This structure mirrored the distributed, multilingual nature of contemporary global cyber security operations.

A central focus of the GOLE-RE collaboration involved analyzing the PIX instant‑payment system breach, an insider‑threat incident that exposed critical vulnerabilities within Brazil’s financial ecosystem. Students evaluated how attackers bypassed the PIX platform and instead compromised C&M Software, a third‑party integrator connecting banks and fintechs, using social engineering to obtain privileged credentials that enabled unauthorized transfers.

Multinational student teams proposed a series of mitigation strategies, including strengthened identity‑access controls, behavioral monitoring, enhanced third‑party risk assessments, and employee training designed to prevent recruitment‑based social engineering. Key deliverables produced through the exchange included secure coding guidelines in Spanish, Portuguese, and English, presentation decks (with optional video components), and research‑experience blogs that are now pending publication.

Throughout the GOLE-RE experience, students collaborated synchronously and asynchronously, developing communication, analytical, and global teamwork skills while navigating linguistic and time‑zone challenges. Faculty across all three universities noted that the collaboration significantly deepened students’ understanding of how Brazil, Honduras, and the United States each approach cyber security governance and resilience.

“By December, students reported increased confidence in analyzing international cyber incidents, addressing insider‑threat risks, and contributing effectively within multilingual, distributed research teams,” said Dr. Schmeelk. “This GOLE-RE initiative demonstrates the transformative impact of sustained international partnerships in preparing cyber security professionals capable of safeguarding organizations and citizens across an interconnected hemisphere.”

GOLE Cyber Research Faculty & (Graduate) Student Contributors

St. John’s University, Queens, New York

Faculty Lead: Dr. Suzanna Schmeelk

Contributing Team:
Dr. Zoe Petropoulou
Ian M. August
Dr. Geoff Dick
Susan Peterson
Greg Bruhn

Cyber Security Graduate Students:
Cassey Burrell
Miguel Guerrero
Brianna Andrea Mendiola
Gulnaz Mukanbetova
Dominick Vandenberge
Monique Crowther
Devanie D Gajadar
John Pedone
Adam Reilly
Erhan Sahin
Muhammad Ali Yousaf
Nathanael Dorsey
Augustine Ibeh
Joeal James
Samuel Thamrin
Oscar Xu
Peter Thorson Andrews
Brian Fitzgerald
Troy Georges
Shalisa McKenzie-McAulay
Daniel O Wilson-Eche
Schuyler Emanuele Winston

Pontifical Catholic University (PUC), São Paulo, Brazil

https://www.puc-campinas.edu.br/

Faculty Leads:
Dr. Carlos Moreira
Dr. Guilherme Oliveira

Contributing Team:
PUC Engineering Faculty

Cyber Security Students:
Calebe Foresti de Carvalho Pierozzi
Guilherme Alves Tavares
Kaun Messias
Vinícius Pereira de Castro
Lucas Gomez Machado
Gabriel Figueiredo Spaziante
Vitor Hugo Alvarenga Alves
Diego Mauad Peixoto
Débora Biguzzi

Universidad Nacional Autónoma de Honduras (UNAH), Tegucigalpa, Honduras

https://www.unah.edu.hn

Faculty Lead: Dr. Elías Leonardo García Urquía

Contributing Team: UNAH Engineering Faculty

Cyber Security Students:
Gerardo Andree Salinas
Hogla Sarahi Calix Gamez
Juan Carlos Flores Trujillo
Pablo Cesar Flores
José Roberto Martínez Morales
Bryan Daniel Gallardo Rodrigues
Jorge Adalberto Cantarero
Eros Daniel Rivera Buezo
Luis Daniel Díaz Cáceres