101PD

Universal · Original 101PD learning guide

Cybersecurity, Privacy, and Fraud Awareness for Small Organizations

A nontechnical operating guide for phishing, payments fraud, passwords, access, devices, vendors, privacy, incident recognition, and evidence-preserving response.

Small organizations rarely need every enterprise security tool. They do need clear controls around money, identity, access, data, vendors, backups, and the first hour after something suspicious happens.

Skills you will practice

  • Phishing detection
  • Payment verification
  • Access control
  • Privacy triage
  • Incident escalation
  • Vendor-risk questioning

Prerequisites

  • No technical or information-security role is required.

Designed for

Small-business teams · Administrative professionals · Managers · Client-facing staff

What a learner should be able to do

  1. Outcome 1

    Recognize common social-engineering, credential, payment, and vendor fraud patterns.

  2. Outcome 2

    Apply practical controls for accounts, devices, sensitive records, and payment changes.

  3. Outcome 3

    Use an incident checklist that preserves evidence and assigns communication responsibility.

  4. Outcome 4

    Create a prioritized improvement plan appropriate for a small organization.

Original curriculum architecture

The final course will expand these modules with original explanations, realistic cases, practice questions, and source review.

Module 1

Threats that reach people

Phishing, impersonation, payment diversion, malicious files, and urgent requests.

Module 2

Protect identity and access

Passwords, MFA, permissions, devices, updates, backups, and account recovery.

Module 3

Protect information and vendors

Data inventory, sharing, retention, cloud tools, contracts, and third parties.

Module 4

Respond and improve

Triage, containment, evidence, notifications, recovery, and lessons.

Applied portfolio exercise

Small-organization security baseline

Assess a fictional organization and produce a prioritized, owner-assigned security and fraud-control plan.

  • Asset and access inventory
  • Fraud-control checklist
  • Incident card
  • 30-day improvement plan

Sources and boundaries

Sources establish current requirements and standards. They do not supply 101PD’s lesson text, scenarios, assessments, or project work.