Hands-on AI: Next-Gen Security and GRC Automation with MCP

Course details

This course introduces the Model Context Protocol (MCP), a powerful new standard that allows secure, context-aware integration of AI models with enterprise systems. Through the lens of cybersecurity and governance, risk, and compliance (GRC), instructor Brennan Lodge shows you how MCP enhances blue team workflows, real-time compliance checks, secure tool invocation, and more. Explore real-world scenarios, dissect security risks and walk through best practices for securing MCP servers. Designed for cybersecurity defenders and compliance professionals, this course outlines a clear path to securely adopting MCP and AI-powered agent architectures.

Learning objectives
Describe the client-host-server architecture of the Model Context Protocol (MCP) and explain how it standardizes communication between AI models and enterprise systems.
Apply MCP to automate governance workflows, such as user access reviews and policy validation, using real-time context injection, RAG, and LLM integration.
Design secure MCP-based architectures that support defensive cyber operations, including composable agent systems and threat-informed automation.
Identify and mitigate critical MCP security risks and implement best practices for secure server deployment.

Concepts

0. Introduction

01 - Start here - Why MCP matters for cybersecurity and GRC

1. Inside the Protocol - Demystifying MCP Architecture

02 - MCP architecture - Hosts, clients, and servers

2. Compliance Meets Context - Automating GRC with MCP

03 - Building a GRC MCP client - Real-time access review
04 - Using vector databases as MCP servers for compliance data
05 - Combining RAG and MCP for policy gap analysis

3. MCP for Blue Team Operations and Threat Detection

06 - MCP server for threat detection - MITRE ATT&CK integration
07 - RAG + MCP for real-time alert contextualization
08 - Why it matters for blue teams to use MCP

4. Locking It Down - Mitigating Security Risks in MCP Deployments

09 - Locking it down - Security for MCP
10 - MCP security best practices and server hardening