Cyber Risk: Identifying, Managing and Responding to Threats

Introduction

• understand the concept and scope of cyber risk management, including its objectives, components, and relevance to modern financial institutions
• explain recent developments in cyber, data, and operational resilience regulation (e.g., GDPR, DORA, EU AI Act) and their implications for firms
• describe the importance of information sharing in cyber resilience, including regulatory expectations, confidentiality considerations, and benefits of collective defence.

Cyber Risk

• define and understand key technology concepts underlying cyber risk, including networks, cloud infrastructure, and system vulnerabilities
• identify and analyse the threat landscape, including common attack types (phishing, ransomware, insider threats) and actors (criminals, nation-states, hacktivists)
• explain defences and controls, including layered security, access management, encryption, and security awareness programs.

ICT Risk Management

• understand the structure and purpose of an ICT risk management framework, including governance, policies, and accountability
• describe the process of assessment and testing, including risk identification, vulnerability scanning, penetration testing, and risk remediation
• explain the principles and procedures for Incident reporting, escalation, and regulatory notification under frameworks such as DORA and NIS2.

Third-Party Risk

• understand the process of assessment and onboarding for ICT and outsourced service providers, including due diligence and contract requirements
• describe best practices for ongoing monitoring and oversight of third-party relationships, including performance tracking, audit rights, and key risk indicators
• explain how to develop exit and contingency plans to manage service disruptions or provider failures.

Crisis Management

• define and understand preparedness and prevention measures, including business continuity planning, scenario exercises, and early warning systems
• explain effective response and containment strategies during cyber incidents, including communication protocols and decision-making structures
• evaluate recovery and learning processes to restore operations and embed lessons learned into future planning.

Data and AI

• understand principles of data governance and data privacy, including GDPR, data classification, retention, and breach management
• explain recent developments in artificial intelligence (AI), including generative AI, machine learning, and regulatory trends
• evaluate how AI and risk management intersect, including model risk and ethical considerations
• identify AI as a threat, including AI-driven attacks, data poisoning, and deep fakes, and discuss mitigation strategies.

Emerging Risks

• understand the role of horizon scanning in identifying and prioritising new threats across cyber, technology, and geopolitical domains
• explain approaches to managing emerging risks, including scenario planning, adaptive controls, and board reporting
• describe examples of emerging risks, such as quantum computing, geopolitical cyber warfare, and AI misuse.

Case Studies 

• bring the concepts to life, the course uses live, real world examples drawn from major incidents across the financial, technology, and professional services sectors
• analyse a major financial institution’s cyber incident to understand control failures and regulatory responses
• evaluate a high-profile digital asset collapse as an example of governance weaknesses and breakdowns in risk oversight
• review a largescale IT migration failure to explore lessons in operational resilience and technology related risk
• examine a nationally significant case of data integrity and system error to understand the impact of flawed technology and accountability gaps
• discuss a professional services organisation’s cyber incident as an example of exposure to technology risks within complex client service environments.