Secure data handling

Key Details

Time Commitment

Approximate Total Workload: 52 hours (2 ECTS)

The micro-credential is designed to fit around professional and personal commitments through a blended online learning approach. Participants will complete:

• Optional live online lectures (including follow-up discussions): 15 hours
• Independent practical exercises and case-study discussions: 21 hours
• Online consultations: 4 hours
• Private study, examination preparation, and final assessment: 12 hours

Assessment

Grading Breakdown

100% Online Examination

A proctored online examination evaluates participants’ understanding of cybersecurity regulation, personal data protection, data sovereignty, electronic documents, cybercrime, jurisdictional issues, and the handling of electronic evidence. The exam is conducted online with instructors present and includes questions covering all module topics.

Following the examination, participants attend a feedback session where instructors review the correct answers, discuss key concepts, and provide additional context on the relevant legal and regulatory frameworks.

Passing Requirements

To successfully complete the micro-credential, participants must achieve at least 50% in the online examination.

Subjects covered

Week 1 – Introduction & regulation of cybersecurity, including personal data protection and industry specifics: This lecture provides an introduction to cybersecurity and personal data protection, covering fundamental legal principles and key regulations. It explores general cybersecurity and data protection concepts, followed by sector-specific considerations, highlighting unique challenges across different industries.

Week 2 – Data Sovereignty in the EU: This lecture provides an overview of the EU regulatory framework for data handling and data flows. It covers the distinction between personal and non-personal data, open data, and sector-specific data categories. The lecture focuses on key regulations like the Open Data Directive, Data Governance Act, and the upcoming Data Act, exploring the legal rules for data access, reuse, and sharing within the EU. It also discusses the establishment of Common European Data Spaces and the regulation of non-personal data flows.

Week 3 – Electronic documents: This lecture focuses on the regulation and handling of electronic documents, emphasizing their role in ensuring evidentiary reliability. The lecture also explores trust services such as electronic signatures, seals, and timestamps, along with document archiving and conversion. Practical examples, relevant court decisions, and implementing acts are also discussed to illustrate the legal environment surrounding and securing electronic documents.

Week 4 – Cybercrime and Jurisdictional Issues: This lecture focuses on international frameworks for combating cybercrime, with an emphasis on the Council of Europe’s Budapest Convention, the United Nations Cybercrime Convention, and the EU Directive on Attacks against Information Systems. It covers the criminalization of cyber offenses and the challenges of cross-border investigations, such as jurisdictional issues, territoriality, and safe harbors. The lecture also examines how international collaboration can address these challenges and improve the prosecution of cybercriminals across multiple jurisdictions, using real case studies to illustrate key concepts.

Week 5 – Securing electronic evidence: This lecture covers the process of securing electronic evidence in cybercrime investigations, from identification to preservation and analysis. It highlights key international and EU legal frameworks, including the Budapest Convention and European regulations, for cross-border evidence collection. The lecture also addresses the role of Internet Service Providers (ISPs) in supporting investigations, focusing on privacy, cooperation, and legal responsibilities. Case studies illustrate the importance of evidence integrity and the legal challenges involved in digital forensics.

Learning objectives

Knowledge – The graduate can:

• introduce basic terminology in the field of secure data handling, understand the fundamental aspects of legal regulation,

• explain current methods of regulation

Skills – The graduate can:

• identify relevant legislation and be able to apply it to relevant entities

• analyze and propose specific vectors for setting processes and rules for relevant entities

• assess regulatory settings in a broader context and with related impacts on management

• analyze the impacts of legal regulation in the field of secure data handling, including its specific manifestations

• evaluate the impacts of secure data handling regulation, including the setting of compliance aspects and their specifics.

Competence – The graduate can:

• think creatively and work independently

• plan and organize their own activities

• collaborate effectively

• assess and process safety requirements imposed by legislation.

Module leaders

Name: František Kasl

Title: Dr.

Organisation: Masaryk university