A tailored course, built for your situation
Mastering APRA CPS 234 for Senior SRE DevOps Engineers
A structured path to embedding information security resilience into engineering practice at scale
$199 one-time
24-hour access provisioning
30-day money-back guarantee
Hand-built implementation playbook
12 modules. 12 chapters per module. 144 chapters total.
12 modules, each with 12 chapters (144 chapters total), text-based, plus downloadable templates and a hand-built implementation playbook delivered alongside course access.
Spending too many hours assembling audit-ready evidence that still requires revisions?
The situation this course is for
Security control documentation often lands as a reactive burden on engineering teams, especially during regulator-aligned review cycles. The result is recurring time sinks, last-minute fixes, and version drift between actual architecture and reported controls, particularly for standards like APRA CPS 234 that demand demonstrable resilience.
Who this is for
Senior SRE or DevOps engineers in regulated financial institutions who own or influence system reliability, incident response, and control evidence generation for compliance frameworks.
Who this is not for
Junior engineers still mastering core tooling, auditors seeking checklist templates, or consultants without hands-on system implementation experience.
What you walk away with
- Produce regulator-aligned control evidence in under four hours per cycle
- Automate verification of CPS 234 control effectiveness directly from infrastructure state
- Gain recognition from senior leadership for reliable, repeatable compliance outputs
- Reduce engineering rework during audit cycles by 70%+
- Position your team as the source of truth for security resilience reporting
The 12 modules (with all 144 chapters)
Module 1. Understanding APRA CPS 234 in a Financial Services Context
Ground your engineering work in the regulatory intent behind CPS 234, focusing on resilience, incident response, and third-party risk as they manifest in production systems.
12 chapters in this module
- Origins and objectives of APRA CPS 234
- How CPS 234 differs from generic security frameworks
- Core obligations for data availability and system integrity
- Mapping CPS 234 domains to real-world incident patterns
- The role of engineering in fulfilling CPS 234 accountability
- Defining 'information asset' in a cloud-native environment
- How regulators assess CPS 234 compliance in audits
- Common gaps in CPS 234 evidence from engineering teams
- Linking CPS 234 to SOX and operational resilience programs
- Case study: Resolving a CPS 234 finding in under 72 hours
- How Schwab-scale environments apply CPS 234 principles
- Building a CPS 234-aware mindset in SRE practice
Module 2. Identifying Critical Information Assets in Complex Systems
Systematically classify systems and data stores according to CPS 234 thresholds using observability, ownership signals, and traffic patterns.
12 chapters in this module
- Defining 'systemic importance' in a microservices architecture
- Using telemetry to trace data criticality across services
- Classifying assets by availability and confidentiality tiers
- Aligning asset classification with business impact
- Automated tagging strategies for new services
- Incorporating third-party dependencies into asset registers
- Managing classification drift during rapid iteration
- Documenting asset ownership for compliance review
- Validating classifications through incident simulation
- Tools and scripts for dynamic asset mapping
- Integrating classification into CI/CD pipelines
- Audit-ready reporting for asset inventories
Module 3. Designing Resilient Architecture Under CPS 234
Embed resilience requirements into system design decisions, ensuring availability, redundancy, and geographic distribution meet regulatory expectations.
12 chapters in this module
- Translating CPS 234 resilience clauses into design specs
- Setting minimum uptime thresholds for critical systems
- Multi-region failover strategies for regulated workloads
- Data replication requirements for CPS 234 compliance
- Configuring automated failover detection and triggers
- Monitoring for silent data corruption and drift
- Validating resilience through synthetic transactions
- Incident response playbooks aligned with CPS 234
- Documenting architectural decisions for auditors
- Balancing resilience with cost and performance
- Handling stateful services in resilient designs
- Common design flaws that fail CPS 234 review
Module 4. Implementing Access Governance and Privilege Controls
Operationalize least-privilege access and privileged account management to meet CPS 234's strict access requirements.
12 chapters in this module
- Defining privileged roles in cloud and on-prem environments
- Automated provisioning and deprovisioning workflows
- Just-in-time access for elevated permissions
- Multi-factor authentication enforcement strategies
- Session recording and monitoring for sensitive accounts
- Audit trails for privilege escalation events
- Time-bound access for contractors and vendors
- Integrating identity providers with access reviews
- Detecting and alerting on anomalous access patterns
- Regular attestation processes for access rights
- Documentation requirements for access control audits
- Integrating access governance into incident response
Module 5. Securing Third-Party and Vendor Relationships
Ensure CPS 234 compliance extends to external providers by embedding security requirements into procurement and monitoring workflows.
12 chapters in this module
- Identifying CPS 234-relevant third-party providers
- Incorporating security clauses into vendor contracts
- Assessing vendor compliance during onboarding
- Continuous monitoring of vendor risk profiles
- Requiring CPS 234-aligned incident reporting from vendors
- Managing data sharing with third parties securely
- Audit rights and inspection clauses for regulators
- Tracking vendor compliance status in dashboards
- Handling vendor-related breaches under CPS 234
- Documenting due diligence for vendor selection
- Vendor exit strategies with data retention rules
- Automating vendor risk scoring and alerts
Module 6. Building Continuous Incident Response Capability
Develop and test incident response plans that meet CPS 234's expectations for speed, coordination, and regulator notification.
12 chapters in this module
- Defining incident severity levels under CPS 234
- Required response timelines for critical incidents
- Cross-functional escalation paths for security events
- Automated incident triage and alerting workflows
- Conducting tabletop exercises for key scenarios
- Documenting incident timelines and decisions
- Regulator notification thresholds and procedures
- Post-incident review and remediation tracking
- Integrating response plans with SOAR platforms
- Maintaining up-to-date contact lists for incidents
- Third-party coordination during incident response
- Audit-ready incident response documentation
Module 7. Establishing Ongoing Monitoring and Testing
Institute continuous security validation to proactively identify gaps and maintain CPS 234 compliance.
12 chapters in this module
- Frequency requirements for security testing under CPS 234
- Automated vulnerability scanning in production
- Penetration testing scope and reporting standards
- Configuring real-time threat detection alerts
- Logging and retention policies for security events
- Automated compliance checks in CI/CD pipelines
- Integrating security findings into ticketing systems
- Prioritizing remediation based on risk impact
- Tracking remediation progress over time
- Reporting on security posture to leadership
- Third-party audit support for control testing
- Maintaining an up-to-date security inventory
Module 8. Generating Audit-Ready Control Evidence
Produce consistent, verifiable documentation that demonstrates CPS 234 compliance without manual rework.
12 chapters in this module
- Required evidence types for CPS 234 domains
- Automating evidence collection from source systems
- Versioning and storing compliance artifacts
- Aligning evidence with auditor expectations
- Reducing evidence generation from 40 hours to 4
- Validating evidence completeness automatically
- Preparing for auditor walkthroughs and sampling
- Documenting control design and operation
- Handling requests for additional evidence
- Maintaining evidence parity across environments
- Integrating evidence workflows with ticketing
- Audit trail retention for compliance review
Module 9. Implementing Change and Configuration Management
Ensure system changes are controlled, reviewed, and reversible in line with CPS 234 requirements.
12 chapters in this module
- Defining change approval workflows for critical systems
- Automated change validation and rollback
- Segregation of duties in change management
- Emergency change procedures with audit trails
- Tracking configuration drift across environments
- Integrating change management with incident response
- Documenting changes for compliance review
- Change freeze periods around audits
- Vendor-managed changes and oversight
- Configuration baselines for critical systems
- Audit-ready change logs and approvals
- Integrating CMDB with compliance reporting
Module 10. Embedding Security into Development Lifecycles
Shift security left by integrating CPS 234 requirements into CI/CD pipelines and developer workflows.
12 chapters in this module
- Introducing security gates in CI/CD pipelines
- Automated security testing for pull requests
- Policy-as-code enforcement for infrastructure
- Security training for development teams
- Integrating vulnerability scanners into build
- Tracking security debt in sprint planning
- Defining security champions within teams
- Security review checklists for architecture
- Measuring security maturity across services
- Feedback loops between security and dev teams
- Documentation requirements for secure SDLC
- Audit-ready SDLC compliance artifacts
Module 11. Maintaining Board-Level Oversight and Reporting
Enable clear, actionable reporting to senior leaders on CPS 234 compliance status and risk trends.
12 chapters in this module
- Key metrics for CPS 234 oversight reporting
- Dashboards for executive visibility on compliance
- Monthly reporting cadence and content
- Highlighting emerging risks and remediation
- Integrating compliance data into risk committees
- Translating technical findings for leadership
- Benchmarking against industry peers
- Incident reporting escalation to executives
- Documenting oversight for auditors
- Maintaining reporting consistency over time
- Third-party risk reporting to leadership
- Audit-ready board summaries and appendices
Module 12. Sustaining CPS 234 Compliance at Scale
Institutionalize compliance as an engineered capability, reducing effort and increasing resilience over time.
12 chapters in this module
- Scaling compliance across growing infrastructure
- Automating compliance for new account creation
- Centralizing policy enforcement across clouds
- Reducing manual effort through tooling
- Training new hires on CPS 234 expectations
- Continuous improvement of control design
- Sharing best practices across teams
- Measuring compliance efficiency over time
- Handling regulatory updates and revisions
- Building organizational memory for audits
- Maintaining documentation through leadership changes
- Future-proofing for CPS 234 amendments
How this maps to your situation
- Pre-audit preparation for APRA CPS 234
- Ongoing compliance maintenance in production systems
- Incident response under regulatory scrutiny
- Scaling control practices across cloud environments
Before vs. after
Before
Spending weeks assembling control evidence, reacting to auditor findings, and managing compliance as a separate effort from engineering.
After
Producing verified CPS 234 outputs in under four hours, with automated checks embedded into systems and leadership visibility on resilience.
What's included with your purchase
- 12 modules with 12 chapters each (144 chapters total)
- Downloadable templates and worked examples for every module
- Hand-built implementation playbook delivered alongside course access
- 30-day money-back guarantee
Delivery and format
- Course and learning environment access provisioned within 24 hours of purchase
- Hand-built implementation playbook delivered alongside course access
Format: Text-based modules and chapters in the Art of Service learning environment, plus downloadable templates and worked examples for every chapter, plus the hand-built implementation playbook delivered alongside course access.
Time investment: Approximately 6, 8 hours total, designed to be completed in short sessions over one to two weeks.
If nothing changes
Without structured integration of CPS 234 into engineering workflows, teams risk recurring audit findings, increased scrutiny from regulators, and growing technical debt that undermines system reliability and career visibility.
How this compares to the alternatives
Unlike generic compliance training or certification prep, this course delivers specific, work-integrated practices for implementing CPS 234 in real engineering environments , with automation, documentation, and leadership visibility built in from the start.
Frequently asked
Is this course relevant for someone outside of Australia?
Yes. While APRA CPS 234 is an Australian standard, its principles on resilience, incident response, and third-party risk are increasingly adopted globally, especially in financial services organizations under similar regulatory scrutiny.
How is the course structured?
12 modules, each containing 12 chapters (144 chapters total).
Will this help me prepare for an audit?
Yes. The course includes direct templates and workflows for generating audit-ready evidence, reducing last-minute rework and reconciliation.
$199 one-time. Approximately 6, 8 hours total, designed to be completed in short sessions over one to two weeks..
Within 24 hours your account in the learning environment is provisioned and the tailored implementation playbook is delivered alongside it.
30-day money-back guarantee·
144 chapters·
Hand-built playbook included·
Account access within 24 hours