A Strategic Approach to Cybersecurity
Ends soon! Keep adding new skills with 10,000+ programs for $239 (usually $399). Save now.
A Strategic Approach to Cybersecurity
This course is part of Cybersecurity in the AI Era Specialization
Instructor: Charles Harry
5,056 already enrolled
Included with
Learn more
53 reviews
53 reviews
Details to know
6 assignments
See how employees at top companies are mastering in-demand skills
Build your subject-matter expertise
- Learn new concepts from industry experts
- Gain a foundational understanding of a subject or tool
- Develop job-relevant skills with hands-on projects
- Earn a shareable career certificate
There are 6 modules in this course
Cybersecurity affects everyone, including in the delivery of basic products and services. If you or your organization want to better understand how to address your cybersecurity, this is the course for you and your colleagues to take -- from seasoned professionals to your non-technical colleagues.
Your instructor, Dr. Charles Harry, has served on the front lines with the NSA (National Security Agency) and as an expert advising corporate and institutional leaders on managing cybersecurity risk. And he brings a rare and engaging perspective to help you learn cybersecurity from the ground up. A Strategic Approach to Cybersecurity provides a framework for understanding the interdependency of private and public entities and the complex systems affecting you and your organization, toward improving critical cybersecurity infrastructure impacting your security. While not its prerequisite, it builds on Dr. Harryβs first course, Cybersecurity for Everyone, with over 100,000 learners globally and growing, which AI Time Journal called βnext-levelβ and highlighted as the top university cybersecurity offering online this year. The course lays the groundwork to understand and explore the key issues facing leaders and policy makers attempting to manage the problem of cybersecurity, from its technical foundations to the domestic and international policy considerations surrounding governance, privacy, and risk management, to applications for achieving the goals of an enterprise, an institution, or a nation. This course is designed for students with some or no background in information technology, whether a novice or active in the cybersecurity field (engineers and computer scientists will learn the broader context and business aspects of cybersecurity), and will provide the principles to understand the current debates shaping a rapidly evolving security landscape.
What's included
6 videos1 reading1 assignment
6 videosβ’Total 27 minutes
- Foundations: An Introduction (Please watch if you have not yet taken the first course of this series [optional course, unless you are taking the full specialization]: Cybersecurity for Everyone)β’1 minute
- Overview: A Strategic Approach to Cybersecurity β’1 minute
- Introduction to the Courseβ’3 minutes
- What Do We Mean by a Strategic Approach to Cybersecurity?β’6 minutes
- Cybersecurity in the Private Sector Contextβ’7 minutes
- Cybersecurity in the Public Sector Contextβ’10 minutes
1 readingβ’Total 40 minutes
- The Challenge of Assessing Strategic Cyber Security Risk in Organizations and Critical Infrastructureβ’40 minutes
1 assignmentβ’Total 30 minutes
- Week 1 Quizβ’30 minutes
What's included
4 videos1 reading1 assignment
4 videosβ’Total 64 minutes
- Private Organizations: Complexity, Interdependence, and Layered Defenseβ’11 minutes
- Private Organizations: Framework for Practical Actionβ’8 minutes
- NIST Functions: Identifyβ’21 minutes
- NIST Functions: Protectβ’23 minutes
1 readingβ’Total 10 minutes
- NIST Framework for Improving Critical Infrastructure Cybersecurity v1.1β’10 minutes
1 assignmentβ’Total 30 minutes
- Week 2 Quizβ’30 minutes
What's included
4 videos1 reading1 assignment
4 videosβ’Total 43 minutes
- NIST Functions: Detectβ’11 minutes
- NIST Functions: Respondβ’11 minutes
- NIST Functions: Recoverβ’7 minutes
- Strategic Context and Developing Cyber Maturityβ’14 minutes
1 readingβ’Total 40 minutes
- NIST Framework for Improving Critical Infrastructure Cybersecurity v1.1β’40 minutes
1 assignmentβ’Total 30 minutes
- Week 3 Quizβ’30 minutes
What's included
3 videos3 readings1 assignment
3 videosβ’Total 38 minutes
- How Do Governments See the Cybersecurity Problem?β’13 minutes
- Defining and Categorizing Critical Infrastructureβ’11 minutes
- When and How Does a Government Respond?β’14 minutes
3 readingsβ’Total 30 minutes
- For context: Cyberspace Solarium Commission Report - Executive Summary March 2020β’10 minutes
- Presidential Policy Directive - Critical Infrastructure Security and Resilienceβ’10 minutes
- Presidential Policy Directive - United States Cyber Incident Coordinationβ’10 minutes
1 assignmentβ’Total 30 minutes
- Week 4 Quizβ’30 minutes
What's included
5 videos3 readings1 assignment
5 videosβ’Total 28 minutes
- Beyond Critical Sectors: Defining National Critical Functionsβ’8 minutes
- National Critical Functions: Connectionsβ’5 minutes
- National Critical Functions: Distributionβ’5 minutes
- National Critical Functions: Managementβ’5 minutes
- National Critical Functions: Suppliesβ’5 minutes
3 readingsβ’Total 30 minutes
- Status Update on the National Critical Functionsβ’10 minutes
- National Security Memorandum on Improving Cybersecurity for Critical Infrastructure Control Systemsβ’10 minutes
- Strategic Cyber Effects in Complex Systems: Understanding the US Air Transportation Sectorβ’10 minutes
1 assignmentβ’Total 30 minutes
- Week 5 Quizβ’30 minutes
What's included
3 videos2 readings1 assignment
3 videosβ’Total 28 minutes
- What Do We Mean by Strategic Consequence?β’15 minutes
- From Device to National Critical Functionβ’11 minutes
- Final Thoughts: Interdependencyβ’3 minutes
2 readingsβ’Total 20 minutes
- TSA Rail Cybersecurity Mitigation Actions and Testingβ’10 minutes
- NIST SP800-39, Managing Information Security Risk Organization, Mission, and Information System Viewβ’10 minutes
1 assignmentβ’Total 30 minutes
- Week 6 Quizβ’30 minutes
Earn a career certificate
Add this credential to your LinkedIn profile, resume, or CV. Share it on social media and in your performance review.
Instructor
Explore more from Computer Security and Networks
- I
Infosec
Course
Status: Free TrialCategory: Credit offered - S
Starweaver
Course
Category: PreviewCategory: Credit offered - U
University of Maryland, College Park
Course
Status: Free TrialCategory: Credit offered - U
University of Maryland, College Park
Course
Status: Free TrialCategory: Credit offered
Why people choose Coursera for their career
Learner reviews
- 5 stars
86.79%
- 4 stars
9.43%
- 3 stars
0%
- 2 stars
1.88%
- 1 star
1.88%
Showing 3 of 53
Reviewed on May 5, 2023
Great and nice course and very important for student of computer
Reviewed on Feb 13, 2024
A very big thank you to NITDA Nigeria, Cousera, University of Maryland College Park and The Amazing Professor Dr Charles Harry for guiding me through. Thank you very much hope to see you again
Reviewed on Mar 13, 2025
Categorizes cybersecurity risks to public and private sector, including critical infrastructure, and functions.
Frequently asked questions
To access the course materials, assignments and to earn a Certificate, you will need to purchase the Certificate experience when you enroll in a course. You can try a Free Trial instead, or apply for Financial Aid. The course may offer 'Full Course, No Certificate' instead. This option lets you see all course materials, submit required assessments, and get a final grade. This also means that you will not be able to purchase a Certificate experience.
When you enroll in the course, you get access to all of the courses in the Specialization, and you earn a certificate when you complete the work. Your electronic Certificate will be added to your Accomplishments page - from there, you can print your Certificate or add it to your LinkedIn profile.
Yes. In select learning programs, you can apply for financial aid or a scholarship if you canβt afford the enrollment fee. If fin aid or scholarship is available for your learning program selection, youβll find a link to apply on the description page.
More questions
Financial aid available,
