Information Security Management

Course information

Learning outcomes

• Gain a multidisciplinary understanding of information security management and its underlying concepts and terminology
• Understand the fundamental role of information security in ensuring business continuity and digital resilience
• Understand the business, societal, and ethical implications of information security decisions
• Become familiar with current and emerging cybersecurity threats and vulnerabilities
• Learn about the information security lifecycle and its relevant processes
• Learn how to identify and address security requirements to maintain continual information security in a given context

Content

• Information security management and digital business
• Introduction to information security concepts and objectives
• Information security lifecycle
• Information security policies and standards
• Continual security, digital resilience, and business continuity
• Case studies on major information security incidents  

Teacher

Hadi Ghanbari

Study material

The course handouts and other learning material (e.g. slides and video lectures) are designed based on scientific publications, publicly available reports, and the following books:

• Andress (2014).The basics of information security: understanding the fundamentals of InfoSec in theory and practice. Syngress.
• Mano (2011). Official (ISC)2 Guide to the CSSLP CBK, Second Edition. CRC Press.
• Raggad (2010). Information security management: concepts and practice. CRC Press.

Workload

The course consists of lectures, independent work (e.g. self-study, writing essays) and teamwork (e.g. hands-on exercises, case studies, group tasks).

This is a hybrid course meaning that students can complete the course either in-class or remotely. Attendance in the contact sessions is mandatory for those students who choose to complete the course in person but it is not compulsory for those students who choose to complete the course remotely.

Prerequisites

There are no prerequisities for the course, but familiarty with Management Information Systems or Information Systems Development is beneficial.

Evaluation

To pass the course, students are expected to complete the following tasks:

• Self-study: studying the course material and answering a set of online quizzes
• Individual essay: writing a scientific essay about a given topic
• Group task: performing a security analysis for a given case
• Class activities (if you choose to complete the course in-class) OR Final exam (if you choose to complete the course remotely)

Teaching time and location

The teaching time and the location of the course can be found at Sisu information system

1. The link leads to Completion methods tab of the course page
2. From the top of the page (Version drop-down menu), check that academic year 2025-2026 is selected  

3. From the blue bar, click Lecture and open the Groups and teaching times tab to see the teaching time and the location of the course. Exam times can be seen by clicking Exam.
    

   Exam instructions at the Open University

The teacher has four (4) weeks to grade the exam submissions starting from the exam date.

Online learning environment for the course  

MyCourses online learning environment is a tool for both students and teachers for communication and managing everyday course work. You need an Aalto User ID to log in to the course's MyCourses workspace and participate in teaching.

Digital workspace of the course:
MyCourses

More details on completing the course will be available at MyCourses closer to the start of the course.

Registration and course fee

Registration for Open University courses is done via the link below: 
Course registration

Registration for this course starts on 8.12.2025 at 9.00  
Registration for this course ends on 29.12.2025 at 23.59

It is not possible to register before the registration period has started or after it has ended.

The number of participants is limited to 4.

This course is organized by the Aalto University School of Business.

The course fee is paid upon registration for each course at a time and it is binding. Familiarize yourself with registration and payment rules as well as other guidelines for students:
Registration, payments and rules

Activating Aalto ID and Multifactor Authentication

You can activate your Aalto User ID the day after the registration and you should activate it no later than the day before the start of the course.
Instructions for activating your Aalto user ID

Once you have activated your Aalto user ID, also enable multifactor authentication. Some of Aalto University's services require multifactor authentication.

Instructions for using Multifactor Authentication