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LDR521: Security Culture for Leaders
LDR521Cybersecurity Leadership
- 5 Days (Instructor-Led)
- 30 Hours (Self-Paced)
Course created by:
Lance Spitzner & Russell Eubanks
Course created by: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.
Featured Quote
This content is helping bring back concepts that get forgotten when you go from a doer to a senior leadership role. It brought back good concepts and a way to utilize them in the Security Context as well as getting leadership to think differently.
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
Meet Your Authors
- Slide 1 of 2
Lance Spitzner
Senior InstructorLance revolutionized cyber defense by founding the Honeynet Project. Over the past 25 years, he has helped 350+ organizations worldwide build resilient security cultures, transforming human risk management into a cornerstone of modern cybersecurity.
Read more about Lance Spitzner - Slide 2 of 2
Russell Eubanks
Principal InstructorRussell is a Principal Consultant and Co-Founder of Cyverity with extensive cybersecurity leadership experience. As former CIO and CISO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta, he brings real-world expertise to his role as SANS Principal Instructor.
Read more about Russell Eubanks
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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 GovernanceResponsible for developing, planning, coordinating, and evaluating cybersecurity awareness, training, or education content, methods, and techniques based on instructional needs and requirements.
Explore learning pathSecure Project Management (OPM 802)
NICE: Oversight and GovernanceResponsible 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 pathSystems Security Management (OPM 722)
NICE: Oversight and GovernanceResponsible for managing the cybersecurity of a program, organization, system, or enclave.
Explore learning pathSenior Security Leader
Cybersecurity LeadershipDaily focus is on the leadership of technical teams. Includes titles such as Technical Director, Manager, and Team Lead.
Explore learning pathCybersecurity Instruction (OPM 712)
NICE: Oversight and GovernanceResponsible for developing and conducting cybersecurity awareness, training, or education.
Explore learning pathTransformational Leader
Cybersecurity LeadershipAlign technology, business strategy, and people.
Explore learning pathProgram Management (OPM 801)
NICE: Oversight and GovernanceResponsible for leading, coordinating, and the overall success of a defined program. Includes communicating about the program and ensuring alignment with agency or organizational priorities.
Explore learning pathChief Information Security Officer (CISO)
European Cybersecurity Skills FrameworkManages an organisation’s cybersecurity strategy and its implementation to ensure that digital systems, services and assets are adequately secure and protected.
Explore learning pathCybersecurity Workforce Management (OPM 751)
NICE: Oversight and GovernanceNICE Framework: Cybersecurity Workforce Management (OPM 751)
Explore learning pathExecutive Cybersecurity Leadership (OPM 901)
NICE: Oversight and GovernanceResponsible 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.
Explore learning pathCybersecurity Policy and Planning (OPM 752)
NICE: Oversight and GovernanceResponsible for developing and maintaining cybersecurity plans, strategy, and policy to support and align with organizational cybersecurity initiatives and regulatory compliance.
Explore learning pathCourse Schedule & Pricing
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Filter by:
Location & instructorDate & TimeCourse priceRegistration Options
- Location & instructor
Virtual (OnDemand)
Instructed by Russell EubanksDate & TimeOnDemand (Anytime)Self-Paced, 4 months accessCourse price$8,260 USD*Prices exclude applicable local taxesRegistration Options - Location & instructor
Orlando, FL, US & Virtual (live)
Instructed by Lance SpitznerDate & TimeFetching schedule..View event detailsCourse price$8,260 USD*Prices exclude applicable local taxes - Location & instructor
Washington, DC, US & Virtual (live)
Instructed by Lance SpitznerDate & TimeFetching schedule..View event detailsCourse price$8,260 USD*Prices exclude applicable local taxes - Location & instructor
Virtual (live)
Instructed by John ScottDate & TimeFetching schedule..View event detailsCourse price€7,715 EUR*Prices exclude applicable local taxesRegistration Options
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Learn Alongside Leading Cybersecurity Professionals From Around The World
- Slide 1 of 4Lance was fantastic! He made the course super engaging and covered all information thoroughly, making sure to draw in and leverage student experience to make the course richer.
- Slide 2 of 4I am just so happy with this material focusing on embedding secure values into our global culture - exactly what my company needs help with NOW.
- Slide 3 of 4Entertaining and thought provoking and helped me understand what actions I can take to change the culture of my company.
- Slide 4 of 4I love the way each lab built on previous topics covered culminating in the last day where we could apply everything we learnt. Everytime we did a lab they were well explained and at no time did i feel rushed, or like we had too much time to complete them.
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