Why C-Suite Exes shy away from Cybersecurity?

Given how much businesses rely on data, cloud providers and other aspects of the digital world, cybersecurity should be a topic on every boardroom agenda today. The reality is, most Board of Directors and C-Suite Executives are people who have risen up through the ranks from financial, sales or business disciplines. Though they have a lot of expertise in finance, metrics and policy, when it comes to cybersecurity – the interest and experience is very little.

As cyberattacks continue to grow common in businesses, it is a need for business leaders to start addressing cybersecurity issues to mitigate the risk of a data breach. After all, cyberattacks and data breaches have severe consequences to the overall reputation of any business.

With so much at stake, why are C-Suites shying away from Cybersecurity?

Why  C-Suites aren’t adopting Cybersecurity?

C-Suites and IT teams are rarely on the same page, and here are the reasons behind this conflict.

1. Lack of clear communication channels:

The importance of requiring a cross-functional team to establish communication channels for mitigating risk. Organizations can no longer assume that IT departments alone manage all technology adoption. Many organizations have communication silos preventing cross-functional risk mitigation. These silos create a visibility issue leaving the C-Suite unable to fully assess the company’s risk posture.

2. Inability to effectively communicate risk:

Once organizations tear down the communication walls and create effective cross-functional teams, IT professionals often use technical language to communicate risk which leaves many C-Suite members adrift in the conversation. Reality is C-Suite executives need business level language to understand and discuss the risks.

IT teams and Security experts must be able to align the negative business effects that cyberattacks can have in order to appeal to C-Suite executives.

3. Existing visibility gaps into third-party risk:

Even when IT and security staff manage to break down silos and effectively tie cyber risk to business objectives, many lack the necessary tools to provide visibility into the risks inherent across the company’s IT ecosystem.

Interconnected application ecosystems that streamline business operations also change the nature of data collection and use. Organizations doubling down on cloud-first or cloud-only strategies to enable remote workforces no longer control all IT assets. Companies are effectively IT companies because they are using so much tech to drive their business, which inevitably increases cybersecurity risk.

4. Inability to connect IT security costs to the revenue stream:

Even when firms are able to properly link cybersecurity risk to business operations, C-suite members may lack information that directly links IT security costs to revenue growth. The majority of companies’ C-suites have only one goal: To increase revenue. Meanwhile, funding limits force cybersecurity teams to rush to protect data while lacking the tools they need to conduct their duties successfully.

Getting the C-suite Exes to embrace cybersecurity

A common goal that every C-Suite Exe has is protecting the company. C-Level Suites will do anything to ensure that the business generates revenue and keeps afloat. However, when a cyber incident happens, the Chief Executive is hit the hardest:

• Plunging shares are commonly seen after a data breach
• Brand reputation is tarnished
• C-Suite executives forced to step down

With so much at stake, there are ways that C-Suite executives can start to take a proactive interest in keeping the business safe. One of the easiest is through introducing educating themselves, and the rest of the teams in Cybersecurity and data breaches.

Cybersecurity Awareness for Employees

Educating your employees on how to spot typical cyber risks reduces the chances of your company experiencing a data breach. There are many Security Awareness training programs, such as Siccura Cybershield that educate and raise employees’ awareness of the digital dangers.

In short, C-Suite Executives cannot shy away from cybersecurity dangers and must take an interest in mitigating risks that can potentially damage the reputation of the business.