- Cybersecurity
- Information Security (INFOSEC)
- Risk Assessment
- Attack Surface
Cybersecurity for Business Specialization
Discover the practical side of computer security. Identify what threatens your business and master how to practically defend against those threats.
Offered By


Skills you will gain
About this Specialization
Applied Learning Project
Learners will identify risks and learn how to protect systems given real world system architectures. Learners will also use their knowledge to assess real world data breaches to determine what threats and exploits caused the data breaches and also what defense mechanisms would have prevented the breaches. Finally, learners will use the proactive security knowledge they gained to exploit a live system to show the risks of insecure web applications.
No prior experience required.
No prior experience required.
How the Specialization Works
Take Courses
A Coursera Specialization is a series of courses that helps you master a skill. To begin, enroll in the Specialization directly, or review its courses and choose the one you'd like to start with. When you subscribe to a course that is part of a Specialization, you’re automatically subscribed to the full Specialization. It’s okay to complete just one course — you can pause your learning or end your subscription at any time. Visit your learner dashboard to track your course enrollments and your progress.
Hands-on Project
Every Specialization includes a hands-on project. You'll need to successfully finish the project(s) to complete the Specialization and earn your certificate. If the Specialization includes a separate course for the hands-on project, you'll need to finish each of the other courses before you can start it.
Earn a Certificate
When you finish every course and complete the hands-on project, you'll earn a Certificate that you can share with prospective employers and your professional network.

There are 4 Courses in this Specialization
Introduction to Cybersecurity for Business
The world runs computers. From small to large businesses, from the CEO down to level 1 support staff, everyone uses computers. This course is designed to give you a practical perspective on computer security. This course approaches computer security in a way that anyone can understand. Ever wonder how your bank website is secure when you connect to it? Wonder how other business owners secure their network? Wonder how large data breaches happen? This is practical computer security. It will help you answer the question – what should I focus on?
Cyber Threats and Attack Vectors
Data breaches occur nearly every day. From very large retailers, down to your fantasy football website, and anywhere in between, they have been compromised in some way. How did the attackers get in? What did they do with the data they compromised? What should I be concerned with in my own business or my systems? This course is the second course in the Practical Computer Security. It will discuss types of threats and attack vectors commonly seen in today’s environment. I hate to be the bearer of bad news, but threats are all over the place! This course isn’t designed to insight fear that there is no hope for keeping systems and business secure, but rather educate you on how attacks are carried out so that you have a better sense of what to look out for in your business or with your systems.
Detecting and Mitigating Cyber Threats and Attacks
Computer attacks and data breaches are inevitable. It seems like every day a data breach occurs and the victims of the data breach suffer. Their information is stolen or posted online. The company’s or businesses who had the breach go on, learn a little from the attack, and just give credit monitoring out as if nothing happened. What if you could help prevent a data breach in your organization? This is the third course in the Practical Computer Security specialization. This course looks at detection and mitigation of threats and attack vectors and discusses how to use tools and principles to protect information. By the end of the course you should be able to make suggestions on what type of detection and mitigation strategy is right for your systems or business given the known threats and attack vectors. You should be able to discuss what features you want in a firewall, or how cash registers or sensitive data systems should be secured. The project at the end of the course will allow you to apply what you have learned to argue what type of detection and mitigation strategies should have been employed by companies and businesses that have suffered a data breach.
Proactive Computer Security
I’ve heard this before – “I’m not sure my computer security practices are working”. I reply “Have you tested them?” This course is the fourth and final course in the Practical Computer Security specialization. In this course, you’ll learn how to proactively test what you have put in place to protect your data. In the first week you’ll be able to discuss the basics of deterrents and how to “trick” attackers into believing they’ve hit a goldmine of data away from your real systems. In week 2, you’ll be able to understand and discuss the steps of penetration testing methodology. In week 3, you will be able to understand and apply what you have learned on your own systems to test whether your systems are secure or not. In week 4, we’ll discuss planning for your own methodology that you can apply to your own systems. And finally in week 5, we’ll finish up with a project that will allow you to test your skills in a safe environment.
Offered by

University of Colorado System
The University of Colorado is a recognized leader in higher education on the national and global stage. We collaborate to meet the diverse needs of our students and communities. We promote innovation, encourage discovery and support the extension of knowledge in ways unique to the state of Colorado and beyond.
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