Cybersecurity & Technology
Cybersecurity Awareness and Digital Risk for Business Leaders
A two-day programme for non-technical leadership. It builds the ability to judge exposure in business terms, challenge a security proposal with informed questions, and act appropriately in the first hours of an incident — the point at which most organisational damage is done or avoided.
The business challenge
Why organisations commission this programme
Where security is treated as a purely technical function, leadership cannot assess exposure, cannot distinguish a necessary investment from a vendor-driven one, and is unprepared for the decisions required during an incident. Those decisions — disclosure, containment, communication, continuity — are business decisions taken under pressure, and they are rarely rehearsed.
Security is treated as a technical function, so business leaders cannot judge exposure, cannot challenge a security investment, and are unprepared to make decisions during an incident.
Who it is for
Participants
- Audience
- Directors, senior managers, risk owners and non-technical leadership
- Recommended cohort
- 10 to 20 participants
- Prerequisites
- Director, senior management or risk ownership responsibility. No technical security background assumed.
Outcomes
What participants will be able to do
- Describe the principal threat types in business terms and recognise how incidents typically begin.
- Identify the organisation's most significant digital dependencies and concentration risks.
- Apply secure behaviours in their own role and set expectations for their teams.
- Challenge a security proposal or risk assessment with informed questions.
- Act appropriately in the first hours of an incident, including escalation and communication.
Learning objectives
- Build an accurate, business-framed understanding of how incidents occur and propagate.
- Identify the organisation's most significant digital dependencies and concentration risks.
- Equip leaders to challenge security proposals and risk assessments with informed questions.
- Rehearse decision-making in the first hours of an incident, including escalation and communication.
Indicative content
Programme structure
Content is confirmed during design and adapted to your context.
Session 1
Threat landscape in business terms, how incidents start, and recent sector-relevant patterns.
- Threat landscape in business terms
- How incidents actually begin
- Sector-relevant patterns
- Baseline assessment
Session 2
Dependencies, third-party and supply-chain exposure, and digital risk on the risk register.
- Dependency and concentration risk
- Third-party and supply-chain exposure
- Digital risk on the risk register
- Challenging a security business case
Session 3
Behaviours, access, data handling and the leader's role in setting security culture.
- Access, data handling and behaviour
- The leader's role in security culture
- Setting expectations for teams
- Reporting and non-retaliation
Session 4
Incident decision exercise: first hours, escalation, communication and recovery expectations.
- Incident decision exercise
- Escalation and communication
- Continuity and recovery expectations
- Actions and owners
Delivery and customisation
Configured around your organisation
- Typical duration
- Two days (half-day awareness variant for general staff populations)
- Formats
- Classroom or virtual
- Language
- English by default. Other languages subject to facilitator availability and materials translation, agreed during design.
How it can be tailored
- The client incident response procedure, escalation routes and crisis structure.
- Real dependency landscape and third-party concentration.
- Sector threat context and regulatory notification obligations.
- A half-day awareness variant for general staff populations.
- Inclusion of the security or technology function as contributors.
Methods
- Business framing throughout; technical content only to the depth required to support a leadership decision.
- An injected-event incident exercise requiring decisions on incomplete and changing information.
- Structured challenge practice against a realistic security investment proposal.
- Use of the client's own dependency landscape and incident response procedure.
Materials, assessment and completion
Materials
- Participant workbook containing session content, frameworks, exercises and space for applied work.
- Client-contextualised case material and scenario packs used during the programme.
- Job aids, checklists and templates designed for use in the role after the programme.
- Assessment instruments and the marking criteria applied to them.
- Individual action plan template and a manager briefing note.
- An incident decision aid and a question set for challenging security proposals.
Reinforcement
- Individual action plans agreed during the programme and shared with line managers where the client permits.
- Manager briefing material setting out what was taught and what should be reinforced in the role.
- Toolkits and templates issued in editable form for continued use.
- Follow-up session at 30, 60 or 90 days where commissioned, reviewing action-plan progress and obstacles.
- Repeat incident exercise at six to twelve months using a different scenario, where commissioned.
Completion
- Attendance at no less than 80 per cent of scheduled contact time, recorded daily and reconciled against the registered cohort.
- Participation in the assessed practical components of the programme.
- Submission of the assessed work product and the individual action plan.
- Achievement of the assessment threshold where the client sets one; where no threshold is set, results are reported without a pass or fail determination.
Participants who meet the completion criteria receive a Knull certificate of completion recording the programme, dates, duration, content covered and, where assessed, the assessment outcome. Knull does not award accredited or regulated qualifications and does not hold third-party training accreditation. Attendance and assessment records are retained under the engagement terms and provided to the client with the completion report.
| Component | Weighting | Basis |
|---|---|---|
| Baseline and post assessment | 40% | Knowledge and judgement instrument administered before and after, reported as learning gain. |
| Incident exercise performance | 45% | Observed decision quality, escalation judgement, communication and use of the response procedure. |
| Dependency and action output | 15% | Quality of the dependency map and the specificity of the actions committed. |
Next step
Make it fit your organisation
Dates, cohort, format and fees are agreed in a proposal once scope is defined. To register interest in a closed cohort, use a corporate booking request — Knull reviews every request; it is not a confirmed reservation.
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Discuss this programme for your organisation
Tell us about your priorities, capability gaps or business challenges. We'll help identify an appropriate next step.