EXECUTIVE SUMMARY:
A year ago, Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos experienced a mobile phone hack. Malicious actors intended to exploit and expose his personal data. The attack delivery method? A link in a Whatsapp message. Since then, more than 80% of C-levels experienced at least one targeted cyber attack.
At the same time, 76% of CEOs have admitted that they’ve bypassed security protocols in order to accomplish a task more quickly, increasing their likelihood of falling victim to a threat.
Why would CEOs and other C-levels bypass their own organization’s security?
- 68% of C-levels state that IT security applications infringe on their privacy rights
- 62% noted that security makes for a poor end-user experience
- 58% claimed that the security measure are too complex to grasp
The following chart displays the frequency of C-level requests to bypass security protocols in a given year:
Image courtesy of Forbes.
There’s a point of tension between IT departments and business decision-makers: While executives perceive themselves as above security protocols, IT teams frequently understand this group to be the weak link in the chain.
“In today’s modern enterprise, cybersecurity can’t be an optional extra…” says one expert. An organization’s security protocols must work for everyone.
What do your organization’s C-levels really think about your cyber security initiatives?
Conducting a survey can help you find out. In addition, soliciting informal feedback can also assist the IT team in reconsidering security operations, and providing better overall enterprise security.
For more on this story, visit Forbes.
