The Scottish Business Resilience Centre (SBRC) is running a free course for non-technical business leaders in Scotland to learn the skills to better understand and manage their organisation’s cyber-security risk. Unlike many cyber programmes it will not rely on technical language, to be accessible for those who may have less experience with technology, the Centre says.
Funded by the Scottish Government, the course is aimed at CEOs, directors, and non-executive directors in the public and private sectors; for them to become more involved in cybersecurity in response to escalating cybercrime and increased remote working.
Ciaran Martin, former chief of the UK official National Cyber Security Centre (NCSC), now Professor of Practice in the Management of Public Organisations at the University of Oxford, will deliver three modules online across four sessions. The course will detail how and why cyber-attacks happen; how to manage cyber-security risk; and the effects of cyber-attacks on a business. It will be interactive, including case studies and examples that lean on Ciaran Martin’s 25 years of experience.
Ciaran Martin, pictured, said: “Recent cyber incidents reinforce a key message: cybersecurity must be viewed as a mainstream business concern, and is a board imperative, and lack of awareness is no longer an excuse. However, many business leaders are prone to labelling cybersecurity a concern of the IT department. What we’re doing with the SBRC in Scotland will help non-technical minded executives to understand why that’s no longer sufficient and learn how they, too, have a role to play in keeping their business secure, and how to fulfil that role.”
Jude McCorry, CEO of SBRC, added: “There has been an unprecedented rise in cybercrime over the past year, and it is vital for all business leaders – even those who don’t normally work with technology – to be more engaged and contribute to reducing the risks of cyberattacks in businesses throughout Scotland”
“We are conscious that many CEOs and directors will not necessarily have the technological know-how required to manage cybersecurity. This course has been specifically designed with that in mind and will include an introduction to the technology used in cybersecurity, as well as identifying how and why cyberattacks happen. This is a rarely used tactic, but one we hope will become more common as cybersecurity is demystified for the business community.”
The course will initially be delivered over four sessions lasting up to three hours each on these dates: Monday, March 8, and Thursday, March 25; and Monday, April 12 and Thursday, April 22.
Further dates will follow. For details and registration visit the SBRC website.
