Description

A focused course, tailored for you

CPS 234 Cyber Control Implementation for Banks

Build the APRA cyber assurance program your board needs, from vendor risk to incident notification.

The APRA triennial review cycle is on the calendar, and the CPS 234 assurance statement that goes to the board still carries open management actions against the vendor risk components.

$199 one-time

Tailored to your situation. Access within 24 hours. 30-day money-back.

Includes a hand-built implementation playbook delivered alongside course access, generated for your specific situation.

Why this course

For a cyber security professional at an APRA-regulated financial services institution, the challenge is not understanding what CPS 234 requires. It is building the implementation machinery that closes the gap between what the standard demands and what the audit trail shows. The vendor assurance framework needs to connect to the incident response path. The board reporting pack needs to map control coverage to obligations in a format auditors will accept. The Essential Eight maturity targets need to land alongside the CPS 234 program without doubling the workload. Each of these is a distinct implementation problem, and the APRA triennial cycle does not wait.

What you walk away with

Design and implement a CPS 234-compliant vendor risk assessment framework with documented tier classification and annual review cadence.
Build the board-level cyber risk reporting pack that maps control coverage to APRA obligations in a format your risk committee can act on.
Implement the incident response notification protocol that meets APRA's 72-hour material incident reporting requirement.
Map your existing controls against the Essential Eight maturity model and CPS 234 simultaneously, producing a consolidated evidence base that satisfies both programs.
Produce the documented evidence set an APRA triennial assessor expects to see, including policy attestations, control test results, and vendor assurance files.

The 12 modules

Module 1. CPS 234 Obligations Map

Translate the CPS 234 information security standard into an obligations register your team can act on. This module builds the capability to read CPS 234 Part B through Part G as accountable control categories, assign ownership to each, and produce the structured obligations map that becomes the backbone of your assurance program. You leave with a working obligations inventory tied to roles and review cycles.

Module 2. Control Design for Financial Services Cyber Programs

Design controls that satisfy APRA's materiality test while remaining operationally maintainable. This module covers control selection criteria, the documentation standard APRA assessors expect, and how to avoid the common trap of controls that are technically compliant but produce no usable audit trail. You build the control register template your team will populate across the program, including control objective, evidence category, test frequency, and owner fields.

Module 3. Vendor Risk Tier Classification

APRA CPS 234 places explicit obligations on material third-party arrangements. This module builds the vendor tier classification methodology, from identifying material arrangements under your APRA-regulated license to assigning risk ratings and testing obligations per tier. You design the assessment questionnaire, the annual review cadence, and the escalation path for vendors who fail to meet the minimum standards your institution requires.

Module 4. Vendor Assurance Evidence Gathering

Tier classification is the start; assurance is the deliverable. This module covers the evidence collection process for your vendor population: what documents to request, how to assess SOC 2 reports and ISO 27001 certificates for CPS 234 relevance, and how to document conclusions in a way that survives APRA scrutiny. Includes the remediation tracking approach for gaps surfaced during vendor reviews.

Module 5. Essential Eight and CPS 234 Crosswalk

The Australian Signals Directorate's Essential Eight controls and APRA CPS 234 share significant overlap but different framing. This module builds the crosswalk that maps your Essential Eight maturity ratings to the corresponding CPS 234 control obligations, eliminating duplicated implementation work. You leave with a consolidated control view that satisfies both programs from a single evidence base rather than two parallel programs.

Module 6. Cloud Security Governance Under CPS 234

APRA expects cloud-hosted systems to meet the same assurance standard as on-premises environments. This module covers the governance model for cloud under CPS 234: shared responsibility mapping, cloud provider assurance documentation, configuration compliance testing, and the contractual provisions APRA expects in cloud service agreements for regulated institutions. You design the cloud assurance schedule that feeds into your broader CPS 234 evidence pack.

Module 7. Incident Response Design for the APRA 72-Hour Notification Requirement

CPS 234 requires notification to APRA within 72 hours of a material information security incident. This module builds the incident classification taxonomy that determines what triggers the notification obligation, the internal escalation chain that delivers the decision to your CISO and board within 24 hours, the notification template APRA expects, and the post-incident reporting that follows the initial notification.

Module 8. Tabletop Exercise Design for Financial Services Scenarios

APRA triennial assessors will ask what testing your incident response plan has undergone. This module designs the tabletop exercise program for a financial services context: scenario selection, exercise facilitation guide, observation and debrief template, and the documented findings register that becomes your remediation roadmap. Scenarios covered include ransomware at a custody platform and supply chain compromise at a payment processor.

Module 9. Board Cyber Risk Reporting Pack

Your board risk committee needs cyber risk information in a format that enables governance decisions, not technical deep-dives. This module builds the board reporting pack: a control coverage heat map, a regulatory obligation status summary, the key risk indicator set calibrated to APRA expectations, and the exception report format that flags open management actions with clear accountability, target dates, and evidence of progress.

Module 10. APRA Triennial Assessment Preparation

The APRA triennial information security review examines your program against CPS 234 obligations. This module covers what assessors look for: policy documentation, control evidence samples, testing records, vendor assurance files, board minutes referencing cyber risk, and incident response records. You build the evidence pack structure and the pre-assessment walkthrough process that surfaces gaps before assessors arrive.

Module 11. Policy and Attestation Framework

CPS 234 requires a documented information security policy approved at board level, with periodic review attestations. This module builds the policy hierarchy from top-level information security policy through supporting standards and procedures, the annual review and attestation process, control owner sign-off mechanisms, and the version control system that demonstrates policy currency to an APRA assessor. Includes the board attestation template.

Module 12. Continuous Control Monitoring and Gap Closure

CPS 234 compliance is not a point-in-time state. It is maintained between triennial reviews through continuous monitoring. This module builds the ongoing monitoring framework: the control testing calendar, automated alerting that flags control failures, the gap register and remediation tracking process, and the quarterly assurance reporting that keeps your CISO and board informed between formal APRA assessments.

How this addresses your situation

Specific modules that map to what you said you are dealing with.

The APRA triennial assessment window is approaching and the assurance evidence pack has unresolved gaps in the vendor risk section.

The board risk committee has started requesting a control coverage map rather than a narrative cyber risk update, and the current reporting format does not satisfy that request.

A material vendor failed the annual security review and the escalation path is not documented, leaving the risk decision sitting with the wrong person.

The Essential Eight maturity uplift program is running as a separate workstream from the CPS 234 compliance program, doubling the team's workload with overlapping evidence requirements.

What you get with this course

12 structured text-based modules covering the full APRA CPS 234 assurance cycle
Downloadable vendor tier classification template and assessment questionnaire
Board cyber risk reporting pack template with control coverage heat map and key risk indicator set
APRA 72-hour incident notification template and internal escalation chain design guide
Essential Eight to CPS 234 crosswalk reference document
Tabletop exercise facilitation guide for financial services incident scenarios
Triennial assessment evidence pack structure guide
Hand-built implementation playbook tailored to your specific environment, delivered alongside course access

What you will have in hand by Day 1, Week 1, Month 1

Immediate: course access provisioned within 24 hours of purchase

Immediate: hand-built implementation playbook delivered alongside course access

Weeks 1 to 2: obligations map, control register template, and vendor tier classification in place

Weeks 3 to 4: vendor assurance evidence process and Essential Eight crosswalk completed

Weeks 5 to 8: board reporting pack, incident response protocol, and tabletop exercise designed and documented

Weeks 9 to 12: triennial assessment evidence pack structure and continuous monitoring framework operational

Before and after

Before

Your CPS 234 program is a collection of policies and point-in-time reviews, with recurring management actions on vendor risk, a board reporting pack your audit committee finds too technical to act on, and an incident response plan that has not been tested against the APRA notification timeline.

After

You have a complete APRA assurance program: a tiered vendor risk governance framework with documented evidence, a board reporting pack your risk committee can act on, a tested incident response protocol that meets the 72-hour notification requirement, and a consolidated Essential Eight and CPS 234 evidence base that does not require two parallel programs to maintain.

What happens if you do not address this

APRA CPS 234 does not offer a grace period for recurring control gaps. An open management action in the vendor risk section that appears across multiple review cycles becomes a regulatory finding during the triennial assessment. A board that cannot demonstrate active oversight of the cyber risk program creates a governance accountability gap that assessors will document. The cost of building the program correctly is a fixed investment; the cost of a regulatory finding is open-ended.

Who it is for

Cyber security professionals at APRA-regulated financial services institutions who are responsible for building, testing, and evidencing the control environment required under CPS 234. This includes professionals who manage vendor risk governance, board-level cyber risk reporting, and incident response programs under APRA's information security standard.

Who this is NOT for. Security generalists at non-regulated businesses, practitioners focused exclusively on offensive security or red teaming who do not carry APRA compliance obligations, and individuals outside APRA-regulated jurisdictions looking for a generic ISO 27001 or NIST CSF course.

How it arrives

Text-based course in the Art of Service learning environment, plus downloadable templates and worked examples for every module, plus the hand-built implementation playbook delivered alongside course access.

Time investment. Three to four hours per module. The full course can be completed in six to eight weeks at a pace of two modules per week, with implementation work running in parallel.

Why $199 is the right number

The standard alternative is engaging an external consultancy to run the CPS 234 implementation program. A specialist cyber advisory firm or major accounting practice will run the same obligations mapping, vendor assessment design, and board reporting work for a fee typically ranging from $80,000 to $250,000 for a full-scope engagement. The knowledge transfer happens to their consultants, not to your team. This course builds that capability in-house, at a fraction of the cost, with the implementation playbook as a permanent internal asset your team retains and updates.

FAQ

Does this course assume I already have a CPS 234 program in place?

No. The course starts from the obligations mapping stage, which is equally useful for building a new program or auditing an existing one against the current APRA standard. Most participants use the obligations map in Module 1 to surface gaps in their existing program before building forward.

How current is the CPS 234 coverage?

The course covers CPS 234 as it currently stands, including the vendor and third-party provisions that were strengthened after the initial version of the standard. The implementation playbook is tailored to your institution's specific regulatory profile.

Will the Essential Eight crosswalk work if we are not yet at Maturity Level 2?

Yes. The crosswalk maps from Maturity Level 1 upward, so it identifies both the CPS 234 controls you can satisfy with current Essential Eight controls and the gaps that require additional work. It is designed to support uplift programs, not just programs already at their target maturity level.

30-day money-back guarantee. If after a week of working through the materials this is not what you needed, reply to the receipt email and a full refund is processed. No questions, no forms.

Within 24 hours your account in the learning environment is provisioned and the tailored implementation playbook is delivered alongside it.