SC520: Human Factors in Cyber Security

Agenda:

• Leadership
  • Human Factor Fundamentals in Cybersecurity Context
  • Situational Understanding & Situational Awareness
  • Cognitive Biases & Decision Traps

• Decision Making & Communication
  • Decision Models for Exception Situations
  • Command & Coordination
  • Workload Management & Team Behavior
  • Methods and Tools for Communication in High-Pressure Situations

• Network under fire

• Culture & Personal
  • Debriefing & After Action
  • Just Culture Fundamentals
  • Handling Leadership Failure (perceived vs. actual)
  • Communication & Leadership Role in Exception Situations
  • Reflection of Personal Stress Management

Objectives:

• Recognize psychological aspects and social dynamics as part of the solution portfolio
• Know clear decision models to enable leadership even under pressure
• Reduce complexity: identify and relieve biases, stress factors, role conflicts
• Minimize communication errors through structured interaction (Closed Loop, SBAR, FOR-DEC)
• Reduce leadership burden through clear action patterns and predefined processes
• Sovereignty in exceptional situations
• Influence over communication flows, decision cascades and operational climate
• Controlled handling of errors as expression of strength - not weakness

Target audience:

• CISOs
• BCM Manager
• IT Manager
• IR/SOC Leads
• Members of emergency and crisis organizations

Prerequisites:

• Several years in responsible leadership position
• Willingness for active participation
• Openness for extraordinary interpersonal exchange

Description:

Strength manifests in action, not on paper. Leadership confidence in crisis situations does not emerge through knowledge, but through attitude. In crisis, every decision counts - not only what is done, but how. Plans, processes and technical systems are an essential aspect of preparation. However, in emergency situations, it is people who must act - under time pressure, uncertainty and often incomplete situational awareness.

Human Factors are not a weakness, but both risk factor and resource: They provide executives with tools to handle uncertainty constructively. The Human Factor Training based on Crew Resource Management (CRM) from aviation specifically prepares executives for these situations. It delivers competencies such as structured communication, common operational picture, decision-making under stress and handling cognitive biases.

For CISOs, executives and management, this personal preparation is not a "soft skill", but a critical factor in incident and crisis management. Because leadership in exceptional situations demands more than processes: It requires clarity, self-leadership and active handling of human limitations.

Ralf Kleinfeld (Board Member of CISO Alliance e.V.):

"From the experiences of our members, we know that cross-functional skills such as communication, personal resilience and leadership strength in crisis situations are success factors for modern CISOs and adjacent professions. qSkills™ addresses our initiative and the professional profile of CISO Alliance and offers practical training for this."