Updated in May 2025.

This course now features Coursera Coach! A smarter way to learn with interactive, real-time conversations that help you test your knowledge, challenge assumptions, and deepen your understanding as you progress through the course. This course delves into the intricate aspects of asset security, providing IT professionals with essential knowledge aligned with the CISSP curriculum. It begins by exploring asset and data classification, helping you understand the importance of categorizing organizational resources based on sensitivity and value. From there, you'll learn about data and asset handling procedures, focusing on secure provisioning and management practices to ensure that organizational assets are protected throughout their lifecycle. The course takes a deep dive into the phases of the data lifecycle, explaining how to manage data from creation to disposal. You’ll explore critical topics such as data roles, asset retention, and security implications for data states—whether at rest, in transit, or in use. Practical discussions on asset management and data protection methods like Digital Rights Management (DRM), Data Loss Prevention (DLP), and Cloud Access Security Brokers (CASB) equip you with the tools to safeguard data efficiently. By the end of the course, you will have a solid understanding of scoping and tailoring security controls, selecting the right standards for your organization, and applying cutting-edge data protection methods. This course prepares you for the CISSP exam while offering real-world applications to enhance your role as an information security professional. This course is designed for IT and cybersecurity professionals preparing for the CISSP certification, particularly those interested in learning how to secure organizational assets and data. A basic understanding of information security is recommended.