Cybersecurity Risk and Strategy
Online program
Learn to identify, prepare for, and respond to new security threats, and gain communication strategies to help build a more cyber resilient business.
5 weeks, excluding 1 week orientation.
6–8 hours of self-paced learning per week, entirely online.
Email: imd@getsmarter.com
Call: +44 2038 851 284
About this program
Trust is a topline imperative in today’s tech-driven business landscape. It’s so crucial that 74% of businesses are increasing their cybersecurity investments to drive stakeholder confidence.1 But security breaches happen, no matter how inscrutable a company’s security infrastructure. The question is no longer if a company will be hacked, but when.
Until recently, business leaders were mostly uninvolved in the formation and implementation of cybersecurity strategies owned by technical teams. But as cyberthreats grow more advanced and unpredictable, strong leadership, effective governance, and a cyber-aware workplace culture have become crucial to a company's resilience and operational continuity when security breaches happen.
The Institute for Management Development (IMD) Cybersecurity Risk and Strategy online program takes a practical, non-technical approach to demystify the cyberthreat landscape. Designed by expert faculty, this program will equip you to effectively identify, prepare for, and respond to emerging cyberthreats. Over five weeks, you’ll gain the vocabulary, cybersecurity strategies, and risk assessment methodologies to make better decisions that can boost your organization’s cyber resilience. You’ll learn how to improve your current governance strategy by leveraging existing data protection regulations, and explore how the latest tech trends will impact the future of cybersecurity.
1PwC (2021).
Who should take this program
This program is ideally suited to business leaders and C-suite executives in technical and non-technical roles who are looking to gain the frameworks and terminology to make effective decisions and develop a plan for cyber resilience in their organizations. The program content will also benefit senior or middle managers and professionals who are interested in exploring the operational realities of strategic implementation and would like to motivate for the adoption of long-term cybersecurity strategies within business.
What this program covers
This program will help you understand the connection between business value and cybersecurity management through a non-technical lens. It emphasizes the vital need for a cybersecurity incident response plan, and how to manage an attack once it happens. You’ll begin with an introduction to the new cyberthreat landscape and the need to understand prevalent risk, threat actors, and their motivations. You’ll then assess your current cybersecurity strategy and examine the measures you can take to protect your organization. Next, you’ll take an in-depth look at how to effectively govern cybersecurity by considering regulations, frameworks, and valuable resources, while building a culture of cyber awareness in your organization. Finally, you’ll be offered a glimpse into the future of cybersecurity, and uncover how trends such as artificial intelligence (AI) and the internet of things (IoT) might play a role in the evolution of this field.
A powerful collaboration
The Institute for Management Development (IMD) is collaborating with online education provider GetSmarter to create a new class of learning experience — one that is high-touch, intimate, and personalized for the working professional.
About IMD
The Institute for Management Development (IMD) is an independent academic institution with Swiss roots and global reach, founded 75 years ago by business leaders for business leaders. Since its creation, IMD has been a pioneering force in developing leaders who transform organizations and contribute to society.
Based in Lausanne, Switzerland, and Singapore, IMD has been ranked #1 worldwide for open programs in the annual Financial Times Executive Education Ranking for the past nine consecutive years, and in the top five for overall ranking (open and custom programs) for 17 years. Its MBA and EMBA programs have repeatedly been singled out as being among the best in Europe and the world.
The IMD Alumni Network
The IMD Alumni Network is a close-knit global community committed to challenging what is and inspiring what could be. Members support one another to transform organizations and contribute to society, and IMD contributes to these efforts by fostering lifelong learning and professional networking.
Obtaining alumni status from IMD is a formal recognition of the continuous learning and development of its alumni. Completing a combination of open, custom, or online programs that cumulatively represent a minimum of 10 full days-equivalent of interactions over time will grant you access to the IMD Alumni Network.
Online programs developed by IMD and delivered in collaboration with GetSmarter count as 2.5 days of interactions (as stand-alone programs and not integrated into other programs).
About GetSmarter
GetSmarter, a 2U, Inc. brand, partners with the world's leading universities and institutions to select, design, and deliver premium online short courses with a data-driven focus on learning gain.
Technology meets academic rigor in GetSmarter’s people-mediated model, which enables lifelong learners across the globe to obtain industry-relevant skills that are certified by the world’s most reputable academic institutions.
As a participant of this program, you will also gain unlimited access to 2U’s Career Engagement Network at no extra cost. This platform will provide you with valuable career resources and events to support your professional journey. You can look forward to benefits including rich content, career templates, webinars, workshops, career fairs, networking events, panel discussions, and exclusive recruitment opportunities to connect you with potential employers.*
*Some of these events may be virtual due to COVID-19 pandemic restrictions.
What you’ll learn
You’ll be welcomed to the program and begin connecting with fellow participants, while exploring the navigation and tools of your Online Campus. Be alerted to key milestones in the learning path, and review how your results will be calculated and distributed.
You’ll be required to complete your participant profile and submit a digital copy of your passport/identity document.
Please note that module titles and their contents are subject to change during program development.
Appreciate why organizations should be concerned about cybersecurity.
- Review why cyber incidents are increasing and cybersecurity’s impact on business continuity
- Identify the different types of cyberthreats, how they work, and why threat actors employ these threats
- Determine the interaction between technical and non-technical cyberattacks, with a focus on ransomware and social engineering
- Interpret which cyberthreats pose the most risk to an industry or organization
Examine the necessity of a cybersecurity strategy and the steps needed to put one in place.
- Recognize the criticality of having a cybersecurity strategy and how it enables business value
- Identify the different dimensions of the risk management cycle
- Determine the risks attached to your organization's most valuable assets and the consequences of a potential security breach
- Decide how to improve an organization’s cybersecurity strategy by considering its assets and the risks related to them
Explore existing data protection regulations and how organizations can govern cybersecurity to ensure preparedness.
- Demonstrate an understanding of existing data protection regulations and the implications of cyberbreaches for an organization
- Review different models an organization can adopt and adapt to ensure effective cyber-governance
- Determine the advantages and disadvantages of using external cybersecurity resources
- Evaluate how effectively cybersecurity is being governed in an organization
Examine effective ways of planning for and handling a cybersecurity incident.
- Identify the necessity of planning for a cybersecurity incident response plan and what it entails
- Determine best practices for handling cybersecurity incidents
- Assess how an organization plans for and handles a cybersecurity incident and suggest improvements
Discover how the trends in the cybersecurity field are ever-evolving and what this means for the future of organizations.
- Recognize how the cyberextortion industry operates and evolves and how this affects an organization
- Identify the impact AI and the IoT has for an organization’s cybersecurity toolbox
- Determine the need for cybersecurity skills and investing in upskilling and reskilling employees
- Assess an organization’s preparedness for the future by considering cybersecurity trends
Who should take this program
This program will equip business leaders, managers, and executives in technical and non-technical roles with the frameworks and vocabulary to make strategic decisions and the tools to build an action plan for a more cyber-resilient organization. Those who are ready to lead and implement effective safety strategies can use the program content to enhance their insight into the organizational structure considerations related to cybersecurity. Senior or middle managers will explore the operational realities of implementing a cybersecurity action plan within their organizations, and learn to motivate for the adoption or better implementation of cybersecurity strategies at a company level.
This program is for you if you want to:
Prepare for the inevitable
Gain a practical approach to effective incident response planning and learn best practices for managing a cybersecurity incident.
Protect your organization
Enhance your existing cybersecurity strategy to boost business value and enable continuity.
Build a cyber-resilient culture
Communicate the importance of cybersecurity across your teams to foster an alert and cyber-resilient organization.
Lead with understanding
Apply your understanding of cybersecurity concepts and practices to senior-level planning and strategic decision-making.
About the certificate
This program offers you the opportunity to earn a digital certificate of completion from one of the world’s leading business schools — the Institute for Management Development (IMD).
Assessment is continuous and based on a series of practical assignments completed online. In order to be issued with your digital certificate, you’ll need to meet the requirements outlined in the program handbook. The handbook will be made available to you as soon as you begin the program.
Successful completion of this online program counts towards your IMD alumni status. Find out more.
Your digital certificate will be issued in your legal name and sent to you upon successful completion of the program, as per the stipulated requirements.
Who you’ll learn from
This subject matter expert from IMD guides the program design and appears in a number of program videos, along with a variety of industry professionals.
Your Program Director
Öykü Işık
Professor of Digital Strategy and Cybersecurity, IMD
Öykü is passionate about studying how disruptive technologies challenge our society and organizations, and how this tension can be fostered for responsible innovation. Her primary focus is digital resilience — the intersection of cybersecurity, data privacy, and digital ethics. A computer scientist by training, Öykü previously held positions at Vlerick Business School in Belgium, the University of North Texas, and Istanbul Bilgi University, where she taught several courses within the digital domain at bachelor, masters, MBA, and executive levels.
Her current work centers around data privacy in relation to consumer behavior and the role of transparency in building trust for digital technologies.
Industry Experts
Calvin Chrustie
Negotiations Collective Associate, InterVentis Global
James Linton
Social Engineer, The Whole
Sandra Tobler
Co-Founder and CEO, Futurae Technologies AG
Andreas Wuchner
Co-Founder and Board Member, Cybovate
Patrick van Eecke
Head of European Data Privacy Practice, Cooley
Tim Ward
Co-Founder and CEO, ThinkCyber
Aaron Gomez
Manager, Information Security Engineering, Mastercard
How you’ll learn
Every program is broken down into manageable, weekly modules, designed to accelerate your learning process through diverse learning activities:
- Work through your downloadable and online instructional material
- Interact with your peers and learning facilitators through weekly class-wide forums and reviewed small group discussions
- Enjoy a wide range of interactive content, including video lectures, infographics, live polls, and more
- Investigate rich, real-world case studies
- Apply what you learn each week to quizzes and ongoing project submissions, culminating in a tool kit to help prepare your business for emerging cyberthreats
Your success team
GetSmarter, with whom IMD is collaborating to deliver this online program, provides a personalized approach to online education that ensures you’re supported throughout your learning journey.
Head Coach
A subject expert who’ll guide you through content-related challenges.
Success Advisor
Your one-on-one support, available during office hours (8am–5pm CET) to resolve technical and administrative challenges.
Global success team
Available 24/7 to solve your tech-related and administrative queries and concerns.
Technical requirements
Basic requirements
In order to complete this program, you’ll need a current email account and access to a computer and the internet, as well as a PDF Reader. You may need to view Microsoft PowerPoint presentations, and read and create documents in Microsoft Word or Excel.
Browser requirements
We recommend that you use Google Chrome as your internet browser when accessing the Online Campus. Although this is not a requirement, we have found that this browser performs best for ease of access to program material. This browser can be downloaded here.
Additional requirements
Certain programs may require additional software and resources. These additional software and resource requirements will be communicated to you upon registration and/or at the beginning of the program. Please note that Google, Vimeo, and YouTube may be used in our program delivery, and if these services are blocked in your jurisdiction, you may have difficulty in accessing program content. Please check with an Enrollment Advisor before registering for this program if you have any concerns about this affecting your experience with the Online Campus.
