Build and Measure a Strong Security Culture to Secure Your Workforce.
Cybersecurity management is no longer just about technology. It is ultimately about organizational change - change not only in how people think about security but in what they prioritize and how they act, from the Board of Directors to every corner of the organization. Organizational change is a field of management study that enables leaders to analyze, plan, and then improve their operations and structures by focusing on people and culture.
Drawing on real-world lessons from around the world, the SANS MGT521 course will teach you how to leverage the principles of organizational change in order to develop, maintain, and measure a security-driven culture. Through hands-on instruction and a series of interactive labs and exercises, you will apply the concepts of organizational change to a variety of different security initiatives and quickly learn how to embed security into your organization's culture.
MGT521: Leading Cybersecurity Change: Building a Security-Based Culture WILL PREPARE YOU TO:
- More effectively communicate to your Board of Directors and executives, collaborate with your peers, and engage your workforce
- Explain what culture is, its importance to cybersecurity, and how to map and measure both your organization's overall culture and security culture
- Align your cybersecurity culture to your organization's strategy, including how to leverage different security frameworks and maturity models
- Explain what organizational change is, identify different models for creating change, and learn how to apply those models
- Enable and secure your workforce by integrating cybersecurity into all aspects of your organization's culture
- Dramatically improve both the effectiveness and impact of large-scale security initiatives
- Create and effectively communicate business cases to leadership and gain their support for your security initiatives and security in general
- Leverage numerous templates and resources from the Digital Download Package and Community Forum that are part of the course and which you can then build on right away

LAB INFORMATION
This five-session course includes 17 interactive labs that walk you through exercises and apply the lessons learned to a variety of typical real-world situations and challenges. Many of the labs are carried out as teams, ensuring that you learn not only from the course materials but from other students and their experiences. Culture is a very human and global challenge, and as such we want to expose you to as many different situations and perspectives as possible. No Laptop Required. "Labs" are group case studies with no computers needed.
NOTICE TO STUDENTS
The course is recommended for more senior and/or more experienced cybersecurity managers, officers, and awareness professionals. If you are new to cybersecurity, we recommend some of SANS's more basic courses, such as SEC301, SEC401, or MGT433.
WHAT YOU WILL RECEIVE
- Printed Course Books
- Digital Download Package: A collection of templates, checklists, matrices, reports, and other resources that will help you in your cybersecurity career. This package is continually updated and is based on resources that real cybersecurity leaders have used in developing their own cybersecurity cultures. Why reinvent the wheel when you can reuse or reshape what has worked for others!
- Community Forum: An opportunity to join the private, invitation-only Community Forum dedicated to the human element. The forum currently has over 1,500 active members!
- One 90-day license to the full SSA library of content. Read the FAQ here.

ADDITIONAL RESOURCES
WHAT TO TAKE NEXT
MGT512: Security Leadership Essentials for Managers
MGT514: Security Strategic Planning, Policy, and Leadership
"For far too long, cybersecurity has been perceived as purely a technical challenge. Organizations and leaders are now realizing that we also have to address the human side of cybersecurity management. From securing your workforce's behavior to engaging and training developers, IT staff, and other departments, security today depends on your ability to engage and partner with others. In other words, your security culture is becoming just as important as your technology. MGT521 will provide the frameworks, roadmaps, and skills you need to successfully embed a comprehensive, organization-wide cybersecurity culture. In addition, the course will provide you the resources to measure and communicate the impact to members of your leadership, ensuring their long-term support."
- Lance Spitzner and Russell Eubanks
"Lance has the best knowledge and experience to share in this field." - Lindsay O'Bannon, Deloitte Global