SANS Cybersecurity Leadership Curriculum

To be effective as cybersecurity leaders, security managers need both technical knowledge and management skills to gain the respect of technical team members, understand what technical staff are actually doing, and appropriately plan and manage security projects and initiatives. This is a big and important job that requires an understanding of a wide array of security topics. The Cybersecurity Leadership Curriculum develops cyber leaders who have the practical skills to build and lead security teams, communicate with technical and business leaders alike, and develop capabilities that build your organization's success.

Current SANS Cybersecurity Leadership Curriculum

NEW Cybersecurity Leadership Courses in 2020 and Q1-2021

MGT433: Managing Human Risk: Mature Security Awareness Programs

MGT520: Leading Cloud Security Design and Implementation

MGT521: Leading Cybersecurity Change: Building a Security-Based Culture

MGT516: Managing Security Vulnerabilities: Enterprise & Cloud

MGT551: Building and Leading Security Operations Centers

SEC557: Continuous Automation for Enterprise & Cloud Compliance

Courses Coming Soon / In Development

MGT416: Vendor Risk Management & Data Privacy

MGT553: Cyber Incident Management

Cybersecurity requires engagement from all levels of leadership throughout an organization. The key differentiator between these various levels is the amount of technical knowledge and business knowledge that is required to succeed. Technology knowledge is invariably greater as you move down the pyramid while business knowledge increases as you move up the pyramid with increasingly more responsibility. Roles and titles will vary across organizations of different sizes and industries but the amount of technical knowledge that an engineer or analyst requires is vastly different from that which a CISO or even a VP of Security requires.

However, as a security leader or manager we are in a difficult situation. We need to have enough technical acumen to understand our team, resolve technical disagreements, and weigh in on appropriate technical direction. At the same time, we must have enough business understanding to convey technical security topics in ways that non-technical leaders can understand and translate business drivers to our teams in ways that they in turn can understand.

That is the focus of this curriculum. To give security leaders both the technical knowledge and management skills to gain the respect of technical team members, understand what technical staff are actually doing, and appropriately plan and manage security projects and initiatives.

Cybersecurity Leadership Triads

In an effort to help our students find the right path, SANS Cybersecurity Leadership Curriculum has created two triads of courses and certifications that align to help create stronger, more well-rounded cybersecurity leaders. This entire blog post is dedicated to describing these triads in detail as well as providing a series of related resources.

Download the 1 page flier about the Transformational Cybersecurity Leader here.

Download the 1 page flier about the Operational Cybersecurity Leader here.

Cyber42 Leadership Simulation

In 2020 we added something new to the curriculum and it has grown tremendously! We call it Cyber42. This cybersecurity leadership simulation game has been added to a number of SANS Cybersecurity Leadership courses. Learn more about the game and find the free Game Day schedule in this blog post.

Why Take Cybersecurity Leadership Training With SANS?

Leadership Focused – appropriately plan and manage security projects and initiatives
Technical Focused – gain the respect of technical team members and understand what technical staff are actually doing
Holistic, Curated Curriculum – based on various job roles and focus areas
Hands-On Labs – extensively focused on “the how” through non-traditional “lab work” such as analyzing case-studies, participating in team exercises, and competing against classmates in Cyber42 games
World-Class Instructors – versatile, real-world security practitioners authoring & instructing
Comprehensive Courseware – access to slides, notes, audio files, labs, and additional resources for future reference
Certification Prep – specialized training that will help you prepare for a GIAC certification attempt

GIAC Certifications

In addition to courses, we offer six GIAC certifications, one SSA certification.

NEW! GSOM: GIAC Security Operations Manager
GSLC: GIAC Security Leadership Certification
GSTRT: GIAC Strategic Planning, Policy, and Leadership
GCPM: GIAC Certified Project Manager
GSNA: GIAC Systems Network Auditor
GLEG: GIAC Law of Data Security & Investigations
GCCC: GIAC Critical Controls Certification
GISP: GIAC Information Security Professional
SSAP: SANS Security Awareness Professional

Challenge Coins

Hundreds of SANS Institute students have stepped up to the challenge and conquered. They’ve mastered the concepts and skills, beat out their classmates, and proven their prowess. These are the elite, the recipients of a SANS Challenge Coin, an award given to a select portion of the thousands of students that have taken any of the SANS courses. More Cybersecurity Leadership Challenge Coins are on the radar for 2021!

More exciting milestones are on the horizon with the SANS Cybersecurity Leadership Curriculum such as a web page, additional courses, more GIAC certifications, new posters and free resources. Stay tuned!

SANS Technology Institute

Graduate Certificate in Cybersecurity Management

Designed for working information security professionals, the 15-credit-hour graduate certificate in Cybersecurity Management prepares you to build and execute strategic plans that resonate with business executives, create effective information security policy, design and deploy information security environments, and lead, inspire, and motivate cybersecurity teams. You'll learn from some of the world's top cybersecurity experts, gain hands-on technical and leadership experience you can apply immediately on the job, and emerge with 5 industry-recognized GIAC certifications. A 100% online option is available.

Applications are accepted monthly. Learn more.

SANS CyberTalent Assessments

Whether you are looking to hire new employees for cybersecurity positions or creating opportunities for your existing talent, SANS
CyberTalent can help ensure you find the right skills match for the job. According to the U.S. Department of Labor, the cost of a bad hire is at least 30 percent of the employee's first-year earnings - for a security analyst, that's $27,000+. You can't afford to get hiring wrong at a time when talent is increasingly difficult to find. SANS CyberTalent Assessments measure the aptitude and skills of cybersecurity professionals, allowing employers to create professional development and retention programs for existing employees or test and rank the skill sets of candidates to fill open positions.

Learn more about Cybersecurity Leadership Assessments here.