Rotman Cybersecurity: Leading Organizational Strategy
Online Program
Learn how to create and implement a strategic action plan to foster a positive security culture in your organization.
6 weeks, excluding orientation.
6–8 hours of self-paced learning per week, entirely online.
Email: rotman.utoronto@getsmarter.com
Call: +1 647-496-0623
About this program
Cybersecurity is a leadership responsibility, but it’s also something the entire organization needs to keep in mind. With this responsibility comes several unexpected challenges. How do you ensure you’re abreast of the latest cybersecurity developments and that your organization is sufficiently protected? When an incident occurs, can you effectively detect it, respond to it, and recover from it?
The Rotman Cybersecurity: Leading Organizational Strategy online program from the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto equips non-technical leaders with the skills to understand and manage internal and external cybersecurity. You’ll use strategic frameworks and structures to manage risk and develop a high-level action plan for building a positive, sustainable culture of cybersecurity awareness across all functions of your organization.
Throughout this six-week online program, you’ll explore the policies, processes, and structures required to minimize the impact of cyberthreats, and learn to make better cybersecurity decisions. You’ll also discover how to navigate a cyberattack, and implement and lead change management through two simulations that will provide you with first-hand experience. Learn how to speak the language of cybersecurity with this program designed specifically for a non-technical audience.
This Rotman program is eligible for financial support
The Ontario Student Assistance Program (OSAP) funding initiative is designed to help learners access sought-after skills and development opportunities through government-funded loans and grants. Financial assistance is available to Canadian citizens and applies to this Rotman Executive program. To find out if you qualify, visit the financial assistance homepage.
What this program covers
This program will equip you with the skills and tools to stay abreast of the changing digital environment. You’ll learn how to build digital resilience and maturity to help your organization predict, detect, respond to, and recover from potential data breaches – whether they be internal or external – and gain a structured approach to managing electronic risk. Guided by industry experts, you’ll examine the processes and structures required to deter external threat actors and learn how to mitigate their impact in the event of a breach. With an in-depth understanding of the various cybersecurity laws, enforcement agencies, and protocols, you’ll be able to create and implement a strategic action plan that leads to a cost-efficient, security-effective organization.
A powerful collaboration
The Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto 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 Rotman
Embedded within the highest-rated university in Canada, the University of Toronto Rotman School of Management strives to create value for business and society through invention and innovation. Rotman is committed to fostering new ways of thinking to address today’s business challenges and opportunities through superior-quality learning experiences. With a focus on diversity, excellence, integrity, and respect, Rotman is determined to become a catalyst for positive change.
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 rigour 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 program participant, 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, confirm your certificate delivery address, 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.
Understand the cyberthreat environment, and the threats your organization is likely to encounter.
- Outline the nature and extent of cyberthreats to recognize their likelihood of occurrence and impact
- Describe how common attack vectors are structured and customized to infiltrate different organizations
- Identify types of threat actors, and their approaches and motivations
- Review contemporary cyberattacks to understand the motivations and implications of different cyber incidents
- Identify valuable cybersecurity resources and guides to build a repository of cybersecurity-related resources
- Use a risk matrix to identify potential cyberthreats for an organization
Discover the importance of structured risk management to minimize cyber risks and build cyber resilience and maturity.
- Recognize the difficulties in adequately estimating risk
- Outline the decision-making process and its connection to understanding risk
- Explain the role of enterprise risk frameworks in identifying and managing risk
- Show how an incident response plan can be used to minimize the impact of an event
- Articulate the role of cyber risk frameworks in managing cyber risk
- Classify an organization’s cyber risk maturity level using a cyber risk framework
Explore the roles and responsibilities of the organization in mitigating external threats, and the use of a Cyber Breach Playbook to provide stakeholders with a clear understanding of what to do before, during, and after a cyber breach.
- Recognize the importance of cyber crisis preparedness
- Outline the roles and responsibilities of the chief information security officer (CISO) in developing, implementing, and leading a cyber security program
- Determine how to ascertain and manage priorities and processes during a cyber breach
- Investigate the evolution, role, and importance of the Cyber Breach Playbook for preparing and responding to cyberthreats
Discover the structures and processes that are effective in minimizing the occurrence of internal threats and their impact on an organization.
- Identify what motivates cybercriminals and criminal behaviour
- Discuss whether hacking can be considered ethical, and if so, under what circumstances
- Interpret the importance of effective change management in building cyber awareness
- Articulate the importance of emphasizing and enforcing cybersecurity as an enterprise-wide responsibility
- Investigate the structures and processes required to effectively manage change in an organization
- Evaluate the principles and considerations behind a comprehensive internal monitoring program
Discover the roles, responsibilities, and accountabilities that occur in cybersecurity, and explore how to create and use a strategic action plan to foster a positive cyberculture in the organization.
- Outline the roles, responsibilities, and accountabilities of different internal stakeholders in creating and sustaining a cyber-resilient culture
- Articulate the board’s role in strategically leading the organization to manage cybersecurity risks
- Investigate the role of the board in overseeing cyberattacks
- Recommend ways to improve an organization’s cybersecurity strategy
- Create a high-level action plan to lead and sustain a positive cybersecurity culture
Explore various cyber laws, enforcement agencies, and protocols from around the world, and how they may be similar or different to those in your context.
- Identify different cybersecurity laws and regulations and their applicability to your context
- Investigate what leads to both successful and unsuccessful prosecutions of cybercrime
- Articulate your key learnings around leading an organizational cybersecurity strategy in a specific jurisdiction or in multiple jurisdictions
Who should take this program
This program is specifically designed for non-technical business leaders looking to understand basic concepts and practices foundational to current approaches to cybersecurity. Executives, directors, and the C-suite will benefit from developing strategic insight into the organizational structure considerations in implementing and leading cybersecurity strategies. They’ll also learn how to promote greater organizational awareness of cybersecurity in their context. Those in a senior or middle management role will gain insight into the operational realities of implementing cybersecurity strategies in their organizations. In addition, any consultants working within the professional services industry will benefit from acquiring knowledge around cybersecurity that they can use to assist their clients.
This program is for you if you want to:
Secure your data
Understand the current cyberthreat environment to manage both internal and external attacks on your organization.
Improve decision-making
Develop a structured approach to managing risk and building cyber resilience and maturity in your organizational context.
Lead a cybersecurity strategy
Craft an action plan to implement and lead a cybersecurity strategy – and foster a risk-aware culture – within your organization.
Grow your knowledge
Navigate various cyber laws, enforcement agencies, and protocols from leading nations worldwide to understand their impact on your business context.
About the certificate
Validate your cybersecurity leadership knowledge with a digital certificate of professional achievement from the Rotman School of Management at the University of Toronto, the leading university in Canada.
Assessment is continuous and based on a series of practical assignments completed online. In order to be issued with a 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.
Your certificate will be issued in your legal name and sent to you digitally upon successful completion of the program, as per the stipulated requirements.
Who you’ll learn from
This subject matter expert from Rotman guides the program design and appears in a number of program videos, along with a variety of industry professionals.
Your Program Director
Dr Michael Parent
Professor, Segal Graduate School, Beedie School of Business, Simon Fraser University and Academic Director, Institute of Corporate Directors
Michael is a recognized expert on corporate governance, with a particular focus on cybersecurity, data privacy, and IT governance. Before becoming an academic, he spent more than a decade in the high-technology industry in new product development, marketing, and management. As an active researcher and executive educator, Michael has advised on cybersecurity and governance issues. He is the academic director for the Vancouver cohort of the Directors’ Education Programs for Canada’s Institute of Corporate Directors (ICD), co-academic director for the Montréal cohort, founding academic director of the Ottawa cohort, and teacher of the national “IT and Cybersecurity Risk” module. Michael is also the academic director for the “Oversight of Cybersecurity in an Era of Digital Acceleration” program, delivered throughout Canada by the ICD.
Guest Lecturers
Michael Geist
Canada Research Chair, Internet and E-Commerce Law, University of Ottawa
Catherine Boivie
CEO, Strategic Technology Leadership Corp; Board Chair, Commission for Complaints for Telecom-Television Services (CCTS)
Sundeep Sandhu
Vice President, Cyber Security, Rogers Communications
Greg Drazenovic
Vice President, Cyber Security, Canaccord Financial
Greg Murray
Senior Video President, Information Security and CISO, Rogers Communications
How you’ll learn
Every program is broken down into manageable, weekly modules designed to accelerate your learning process through diverse 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 casebooks and ongoing project submissions, culminating in a strategic cybersecurity action plan designed for your particular business context
Your success team
GetSmarter, with whom Rotman is collaborating to deliver this online program, provides a personalized approach to online education that ensures you’re supported throughout your learning journey.
Head Learning Facilitator
A subject expert who’ll guide you through content-related challenges.
Success Adviser
Your one-on-one support available during University hours (8am–5pm ET) 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 Enrolment Adviser before registering for this program if you have any concerns about this affecting your experience with the Online Campus.
