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LDR521: Security Culture for Leaders

LDR521Cybersecurity Leadership
  • 5 Days (Instructor-Led)
  • 30 Hours (Self-Paced)
Course created by:
Lance SpitznerRussell Eubanks
Lance Spitzner & Russell Eubanks
LDR521: Security Culture for Leaders
Course created by:
Lance SpitznerRussell Eubanks
Lance Spitzner & Russell Eubanks
  • 30 CPEs

    Apply your credits to renew your certifications

  • In-Person, Virtual or Self-Paced

    Attend a live, instructor-led class at a location near you or remotely, or train on your time over 4 months

  • 12 Hands-On Lab(s)

    Apply what you learn with hands-on exercises and labs

Transform your organization’s cybersecurity by institutionalizing a strong security culture where leadership and workforce prioritize security in their everyday actions and initiatives.

Course Overview

The SANS LDR521: Security Culture for Leaders course teaches cybersecurity leaders how to build, measure, and sustain a strong cybersecurity culture across their organization. Through hands-on labs, real-world scenarios, and proven behavioral science frameworks, participants learn how to gain executive buy-in, engage the workforce, and integrate security into everyday business practices. This course is ideal for experienced security professionals looking to drive meaningful cultural change and elevate the impact of their security programs.

What You'll Learn

  • Understand and quantify both organizational and security culture
  • Identify and embed key elements of a strong security culture
  • Build a practical framework to guide your security team
  • Communicate the business value of security to gain executive buy-in
  • Engage and motivate your workforce to adopt secure behaviors
  • Simplify security processes to integrate them into daily work
  • Improve the success of security initiatives with actionable strategies and tools

Business Takeaways

  • Scale security impact beyond your immediate security team
  • Embed security at the start of all business initiatives
  • Gain critical executive leadership support for initiatives
  • Create a workforce that naturally prioritizes security
  • Increase success rates of all security programs
  • Transform security teams into effective security advocates
  • Reduce security team burnout through cultural alignment

Course Syllabus

Explore the course syllabus below to view the full range of topics covered in LDR521: Security Culture for Leaders.

Section 1Fundamentals of Organizational and Security Culture

Learn the foundations of security culture, how to map your organization's current culture, and build a roadmap to achieve the security culture you want. Apply proven organizational change models to drive cultural transformation.

Topics covered

  • Human aspects of security
  • Organizational and security culture assessment
  • Future state definition and visioning
  • Organizational change frameworks
  • Enabling cultural change

Labs

  • Map your organization's culture
  • Survey your security culture
  • Define desired security culture
  • Action your security culture plan

Section 2Motivating Security Culture

Discover how to effectively engage and motivate your workforce to prioritize cybersecurity. Learn marketing models, persona development, and incentive programs that drive behavioral change across the organization.

Topics covered

  • AI in security culture building
  • Safety and motivation principles
  • Marketing change effectively
  • Creating security personas
  • Incentivizing security behaviors

Labs

  • Develop security personas
  • Create marketing plan for DevSecOps

Section 3Enabling and Measuring Security Culture

Learn to overcome the "Curse of Knowledge" by making security simple for all employees. Develop effective training approaches, streamline policies, and implement metrics to track and demonstrate security culture impact.

Topics covered

  • Addressing cognitive biases
  • Building security knowledge
  • Simplifying security processes
  • Measuring cultural change
  • Organizing metrics and driving action

Labs

  • Craft learning objectives
  • Build human sensor network
  • Design security culture surveys

Section 4Engaging Leadership

Develop proficiency in getting executive support by speaking leadership's language. Learn to build compelling business cases, understand financial impacts, and effectively communicate security value to senior leadership.

Topics covered

  • Creating business cases
  • Understanding financial impacts
  • Communicate clearly with your executives
  • Demonstrating security ROI
  • Developing a future-focused security vision

Labs

  • Develop a clear Business Case
  • Create an effective multi-year security budget

Section 5Capstone Workshop

Apply everything you've learned in a simulated environment to build a security culture at a fictional company. Teams compete to make strategic decisions that impact security outcomes, with the winning team earning the coveted LDR521 Challenge Coin.

Topics covered

  • Strategic decision-making
  • Real-world application
  • Team collaboration
  • Security leadership simulation
  • Cybersecurity culture outcomes

Labs

  • Cyber42 Leadership Simulation

Things You Need To Know

Relevant Job Roles

Cybersecurity Curriculum Development (OPM 711)

NICE: Oversight and Governance

Responsible for developing, planning, coordinating, and evaluating cybersecurity awareness, training, or education content, methods, and techniques based on instructional needs and requirements.

Explore learning path

Secure Project Management (OPM 802)

NICE: Oversight and Governance

Responsible for overseeing and directly managing technology projects. Ensures cybersecurity is built into projects to protect the organization’s critical infrastructure and assets, reduce risk, and meet organizational goals. Tracks and communicates project status and demonstrates project value to the organization.

Explore learning path

Systems Security Management (OPM 722)

NICE: Oversight and Governance

Responsible for managing the cybersecurity of a program, organization, system, or enclave.

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Senior Security Leader

Cybersecurity Leadership

Daily focus is on the leadership of technical teams. Includes titles such as Technical Director, Manager, and Team Lead.

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Cybersecurity Instruction (OPM 712)

NICE: Oversight and Governance

Responsible for developing and conducting cybersecurity awareness, training, or education.

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Transformational Leader

Cybersecurity Leadership

Align technology, business strategy, and people.

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Program Management (OPM 801)

NICE: Oversight and Governance

Responsible for leading, coordinating, and the overall success of a defined program. Includes communicating about the program and ensuring alignment with agency or organizational  priorities.

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Chief Information Security Officer (CISO)

European Cybersecurity Skills Framework

Manages an organisation’s cybersecurity strategy and its implementation to ensure that digital systems, services and assets are adequately secure and protected.

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Cybersecurity Workforce Management (OPM 751)

NICE: Oversight and Governance

NICE Framework: Cybersecurity Workforce Management (OPM 751)

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Executive Cybersecurity Leadership (OPM 901)

NICE: Oversight and Governance

Responsible for establishing vision and direction for an organization's cybersecurity operations and resources and their impact on digital and physical spaces. Possesses authority to make and execute decisions that impact an organization broadly, including policy approval and stakeholder engagement.

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Cybersecurity Policy and Planning (OPM 752)

NICE: Oversight and Governance

Responsible for developing and maintaining cybersecurity plans, strategy, and policy to support and align with organizational cybersecurity initiatives and regulatory compliance.

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Course Schedule & Pricing

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  • Location & instructor

    Virtual (OnDemand)

    Instructed by Russell Eubanks
    Date & Time
    OnDemand (Anytime)Self-Paced, 4 months access
    Course price
    $8,260 USD*Prices exclude applicable local taxes
    Registration Options
  • Location & instructor

    Orlando, FL, US & Virtual (live)

    Instructed by Lance Spitzner
    Date & Time
    Fetching schedule..View event details
    Course price
    $8,260 USD*Prices exclude applicable local taxes
    Registration Options
  • Location & instructor

    Washington, DC, US & Virtual (live)

    Instructed by Lance Spitzner
    Date & Time
    Fetching schedule..View event details
    Course price
    $8,260 USD*Prices exclude applicable local taxes
    Registration Options
  • Location & instructor

    Virtual (live)

    Instructed by John Scott
    Date & Time
    Fetching schedule..View event details
    Course price
    €7,715 EUR*Prices exclude applicable local taxes
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