Cybersecurity for Leaders: Managing Risk in a Digital World

Cyber risk and cybersecurity are a source of frustration for executives and government officials who spend inordinate time and worry trying to protect their data from sophisticated phishing schemes, ransomware, and state-sponsored hacking. However, cybersecurity issues are not purely a technology problem—they are multi-headed hydras that need to be addressed with a multi-disciplinary approach.

On the surface, a ransomware attack that effectively locks up your organization’s data is a technical one; but embedded within cyber risk and cybersecurity are a host of management problems as well. 

This cybersecurity course is not intended to provide guidance on IT infrastructure or troubleshooting, rather it focuses on the humanistic and managerial aspects of cybersecurity. As a participant in this cyber security training course, you will be provided with a framework of managerial protocols to follow, resulting in a personalized playbook with actionable next steps towards creating a more cyber-aware culture within your organization.

You will leave this course with:

• A framework for how to keep an organization secure and mitigate cyber risk
• An understanding of what cybersecurity leadership looks like and what you can do right now
• A personalized playbook with actionable next steps for improving a culture of cyber awareness within your organization
• The latest research and thinking on measuring an organization’s cybersecurity readiness
• Upon successful completion of your course, you will earn a certificate of completion from the MIT Sloan School of Management. This course may also count toward MIT Sloan Executive Certificate requirements.

In today’s landscape of escalating cybercrime, mitigating cyber risk is not the Chief Information Security Officer’s responsibility alone—it is everyone’s job. Getting ahead of hackers and other security risks requires the active engagement of non-technical management, as well as an overall commitment to building a cybersecurity culture within your enterprise.

Cybersecurity for Leaders provides executives with frameworks and best practices for managing cybersecurity-related risk separate from the specialized IT infrastructure typically associated with this topic. Course content includes lectures, interactive discussions, and case studies related to:

• Overall cybersecurity awareness
• The role of non-tech leaders in cybersecurity management
• Actionable ideas to increase cyber resilience
• How to measure the organization's cyber-safety level and how it is changing over time
• How to speak the language of cybersecurity to enable informed conversations with your technology teams and colleagues, and ensure your organization is as cybersecure as possible

Key concepts from the various learning modules are cumulatively combined into a personalized action plan–a playbook–of what to do next and how to manage various stakeholders throughout your organization. This will also enable you to have more informed conversations with your CISO or other cybersecurity leaders regarding cyberthreat management. 

This cybersecurity leadership course also draws from the U.S. Commerce Department’s National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) Framework for policy and management planning—a flexible and cost-effective approach to protecting critical infrastructure.

Please Note:

This course was formerly known as Cybersecurity Leadership for Non-Technical Executives.

If you have already completed Cybersecurity Governance for the Board of Directors, there is some overlap in course materials used, though the content is framed differently for the purposes of this audience.

We do not recommend this course if you have already completed Cybersecurity for Managers: A Playbook, unless you are seeking a refresher of the content.